alternator died on me last night

[xvprflyboivx]

on my way home to pennsylvania last night my freakin alternator dies on me . i have an '03 and the alternator was made 12/02. does anyone think that it was time that the alternator go out? i got everything repaired and got a re-manufactured alternator put in. it cost $195 + a new battery ($125) . They said I needed a new battery because the cells might have been damaged and i would have burned out the new alternator.

 

[Nocturnall]

I think it's more a milage thing then a time thing, If you have 130k miles on the truck then it's probably time for an alt to go bad.

 

[xvprflyboivx]

i only have 67,000 miles on the truck

 

[410Fortune]

premature alternator failure for sure, but hey electrical parts do wear out.

Do you have any aftermarket electronics that would put more strain on your system then normal?

Sounds like you got sold a new battery without needing one to me, I would have had the old one tested to save myself $125

Whenever an alternator is replaced the battery cables and especially the wires to the alternator MUST be checked, the entire alternator wiring harness should be removed, inspected and re-installed or replaced.

Hope you got a warranty with the new unit.

 

[baseballX]

by re-manufactured you mean the same thing a 'refurbished' one correct? maybe its just me, but i'm always a little skeptical on refurbished electrical parts and equipment of any kind. 410 is right, hopefully you got a warranty.

 

[trucku]

my alternator died last month and the truck only has 74k miles on it. I bought re manufactured also. My battery was only half year old, so I left it. I was surprised too that it died early for the age and mileage on my truck.

 

[piperRonnie]

xvprflyboivx, You are lucky. My '02, with 36k miles, had the same thing happen. I too was on the road a long way from home. I got the truck to a dealership in Milwaukee and got a new batty, and a refurb alt for $600.

 

[JDraper]

Dang!! You're all getting ripped off bigtime!!! For an 02-03 Explorer:

Refurbished Autolite Pro-Auto Alternator with lifetime warranty and 24 month roadside service from Advance Auto $145.00. It takes about 20 minutes and a socket wrench set to install. 3 Bolts, 2 wires and loosen the tensioner.

Autocraft 850 CCA Battery w/3 year free replacement and 72 month pro rated replacement from Advance Auto $79.88. Advance will even install the battery for free.

 

[xvprflyboivx]

i dont have anything that runs heavy on the alternator. The only upgrade I did was change the stock speakers to Infinitys. With the new alternator in place I ran the instrument cluster in test mode and with just the engine on im running 14.4-5 volts. With everything on (A/C, lights, stereo, etc.) in running ~14.3volts. Is 14.5volts too high? or is that normal. I noticed that my headlights at night are BRIGHTER.