Jwong77

Just wanted to get back to this thread. I replaced the alternator last week using the Reman Denso from RockAuto. It seems legit in terms being Remanufactured by Denso, as in it has a box and a sticker on it that says Denso Remanufactured. Its working much better than the POS Ultima branded alternator I recieved from ORielly. And its lasted me longer than the 2 days that my rebuilt original from the rebuild shop. I get a strong 14v when the car is sitting at idle. Here's to hoping it lasts me while. I'm also in possesion of the used one from a 47k mile car as my backup.

Thanks all who chimed in and helped. I hope I never have to replace an alternator again.

ApexHunter

Glad to hear the Denso is operating well so far, thanks for closing the loop.

if it takes a dump at some point down the road, it'd be great if you could circle back. That's one of the clear advantages the forums still have over facebook.

Jwong77

FML,I think the reman Denso from RockAuto just died on me. I installed it 6 days ago.

I was driving along on the freeway and within 5 minute span I lost EPS, followed by ABS, then my entire dash died, followed by my radio, and finally my headlights. I haven't had the heart to check the voltages but I have to assume the alternator died sometime while I was driving around and drained my battery.

Though strangely the battery light never came on, or at least I didn't notice it.

Its late here, and I'm not gonna bother checking it for now.

windhund116

Okay. For sure there is something more going on, than a simple alternator swap-out. You may need to send the car to a mechanic who can diagnose all of the underlying issues.

Sorry about that.

Jwong77

I connected my battery to a charger for a couple of hours. And now the car starts again and all of my gauges, lights, radio, etc are back. But the voltage reads 11.56v when the car is running. And I can hear a whining noise when I rev the engine. Does this indicate a bad bearing in the alternator?

I agree, it maybe time to throw in the towel and get it tested by a real mechanic.

windhund116

Man! I don't know. So many bearing issues, right? Maybe the mounting bracket is bad or something?

Yeah in my opinion, a new pair of eyes to look at your car is in order.

Car Analogy

Something killing alternators that quickly should be easy to spot if its mechanical. Like a belt alignment issue or something.

My concern is most mechanics only know how to swap parts, not perform complex troubleshooting. If this symptom, that part, etc.

Similar with Doctors. Order tests, rule out this, then that. Seems real troubleshooting becoming a lost art.

Anyway, I'd eyeball the belt alignment. Also the belt routing. The belt tension. Maybe this is a tensioner issue? All the accessory bearings are being overloaded, but alternator is being canary in coal mine?

Is tensioner oem? Rarely go bad, and can't imagine failure mode where it over tensions. But if its aftermarket, maybe made with wrong spring or something?

How hard is it to crank tensioner getting belt on?

Are you doing anything like bypass AC with CR belt? Possible actually using wrong belt, and its too short?

B serious

There's some greater electrical issue that is killing your alternators. Maybe a bad ground or battery connection issue? No idea without actually diagnosing.

You should have this diagnosed by someone who is qualified

noodels

Got correct relays in if they are on the charge system,have you pulled them recently as could have pushed out a connection when putting back in,also goes for other connectors you may have removed and often happens with blocks going brittle with age.they have to be good fit also so not to overload electronics.

Chuck S

Have you made ANY changes to the car you haven't told us about? Anything? Failed alternator is rare. Two is beyond rare and says something out of the ordinary killed both of them. Throwing more parts at it without fixing the problem ain't gonna work.

-- Chuck