Alternator is dying, best replacement?

[Fenuxx]

So, my alternator is dying on my 2000 Sport. It isn't dead yet, but it's on it's way out, so I'm looking to replace it.

I have a few questions/concerns, however. First, since this is my only vehicle, taking it to a shop for a rebuild isn't really an option. I do, however, intend, at some point in the future, to take my existing one to a shop, after replacing it, and getting it rebuilt for a spare, but I don't want to waste my money in the mean time. I don't really have the time, nor the equipment, to do it myself either.

So, I'm looking at replacing it altogether. What I'm finding, however, is a lack of information on what I should replace it with. I don't need a fancy 300 Amp alternator either, the stock 130A works just fine for my needs.

My options seem to be the following

From AutoZone:

• Duralast Gold "new"
• Duralast reman
• ValuCraft reman

From O'Reilly

• BesTest reman
• Ultima reman
• Ultima Select "new"
• Motorcraft reman (would need to order it, isn't in-store)

I can also go to my local Ford dealership and get the Motorcraft reman, for about the same price as O'Reilly.


I just have questions about the quality of the above-listed options. I can't seem to find much of anything about any of them, minus the Motorcraft reman, which seems to be decisively hit-or-miss, which makes me pretty wary of it.

Does anyone have some advice, or experience with any of these alternators and feel they can withstand the brutal 115* summers here in Phoenix?

 

[koda2000]

So, my alternator is dying on my 2000 Sport. It isn't dead yet, but it's on it's way out, so I'm looking to replace it.

I have a few questions/concerns, however. First, since this is my only vehicle, taking it to a shop for a rebuild isn't really an option. I do, however, intend, at some point in the future, to take my existing one to a shop, after replacing it, and getting it rebuilt for a spare, but I don't want to waste my money in the mean time. I don't really have the time, nor the equipment, to do it myself either.

So, I'm looking at replacing it altogether. What I'm finding, however, is a lack of information on what I should replace it with. I don't need a fancy 300 Amp alternator either, the stock 130A works just fine for my needs.

My options seem to be the following

From AutoZone:

• Duralast Gold "new"
• Duralast reman
• ValuCraft reman

From O'Reilly

• BesTest reman
• Ultima reman
• Ultima Select "new"
• Motorcraft reman (would need to order it, isn't in-store)

I can also go to my local Ford dealership and get the Motorcraft reman, for about the same price as O'Reilly.


I just have questions about the quality of the above-listed options. I can't seem to find much of anything about any of them, minus the Motorcraft reman, which seems to be decisively hit-or-miss, which makes me pretty wary of it.

Does anyone have some advice, or experience with any of these alternators and feel they can withstand the brutal 115* summers here in Phoenix?

i'm not in the habit of wasting money unnecessarily, so i would (and have) always purchased remans with life time warranties. Autozone, Advance, O'Reilly are all about the same quality. go for the best price. i woudn't go on-line to RockAuto or Amazon for something like this, as if it should crap out in the future, i want a local source that's open 7 days a week for a replacement. i've never purchased new and have never had one go bad on me. if you're more comfortable with new, the last place i'd go would be the sealership. it's your money. i got my last one from AutoZone and installed it myself. took all of about 10 mins to install.

 

[JusTheUsual]

Stock was 95 and I got a 130 for $90 at advance auto and now my voltage don't drop as much while stopped at streetlights with my loud audio system. My volt gage would literally go almost all the way down now it only goes down from half where it sits to about 1/3rd

 

[Fenuxx]

i'm not in the habit of wasting money unnecessarily, so i would (and have) always purchased remans with life time warranties. Autozone, Advance, O'Reilly are all about the same quality. go for the best price. i woudn't go on-line to RockAuto or Amazon for something like this, as if it should crap out in the future, i want a local source that's open 7 days a week for a replacement. i've never purchased new and have never had one go bad on me. if you're more comfortable with new, the last place i'd go would be the sealership. it's your money. i got my last one from AutoZone and installed it myself. took all of about 10 mins to install.

That's pretty much my thought process. With wanting to keep my existing one for a rebuild at a later date, getting a new one as compared to a reman is pretty much the same price (actually, getting the reman Duralast is $5 more with the core charge that won't be refunded as compared to the new Duralast Gold).

If the Duralast seems to be my best option, I think I'll go with that one.

 

[koda2000]

That's pretty much my thought process. With wanting to keep my existing one for a rebuild at a later date, getting a new one as compared to a reman is pretty much the same price (actually, getting the reman Duralast is $5 more with the core charge that won't be refunded as compared to the new Duralast Gold).

If the Duralast seems to be my best option, I think I'll go with that one.

i'm a bit puzzled as to why you want to keep your old one to rebuild. it's going cost about the same as a reman and the one you're buying has a life time warranty. also, according to my local re-builder, these alternators tend to develop shaft problems, do to wear, and are often not worth rebuilding. buy the Duralast reman or Gold and you'll be good to go.

 

[bill06447]

I would go with whatever lifetime rebuilt they normally stock at your most convenient retailer. As stated earlier, "when" it dies you know it's close by and on the shelf for an exchange. Alternator is simple enough swap quality isn't as important as, say, a cylinder head.

Bill

 

[SoNic67]

Now, I always get the "new" store brand (Advance Auto Parts with online codes found at Retailmenot.com) that usually comes with "lifetime warranty".
It's so easy to replace that it makes no sense to spend extra.

 

[J_C]

I second using coupon codes for Advance Auto Parts. Often you can get 30%-40% off there.

I wouldn't worry about keeping the 2nd one for a rebuild. If you get the same life out of the replacement then that's looking 14 years into the future... too far ahead to invest anything in when the part isn't especially expensive for what it is.

 

[Fenuxx]

i'm a bit puzzled as to why you want to keep your old one to rebuild. it's going cost about the same as a reman and the one you're buying has a life time warranty. also, according to my local re-builder, these alternators tend to develop shaft problems, do to wear, and are often not worth rebuilding. buy the Duralast reman or Gold and you'll be good to go.

It's mainly to have a spare working part around. There's only 1 24-hour part store around here, which happens to be AutoZone, and it isn't exactly the closest thing by. With my weird work schedule, I'd much rather play it safe and have a working spare that may, or may not, ever get used than be screwed at, say, 2AM.

Now, I always get the "new" store brand (Advance Auto Parts with online codes found at Retailmenot.com) that usually comes with "lifetime warranty".
It's so easy to replace that it makes no sense to spend extra.

I second using coupon codes for Advance Auto Parts. Often you can get 30%-40% off there.

I wouldn't worry about keeping the 2nd one for a rebuild. If you get the same life out of the replacement then that's looking 14 years into the future... too far ahead to invest anything in when the part isn't especially expensive for what it is.

Advance would be fantastic, but sadly, there isn't a store anywhere near me (within 100 miles, according to the store locator).

 

[koda2000]

well, i guess you should do what makes you comfortable, but it seems to me that there's a lot of other parts on a 14 year old vehicle that can leave you stranded at 2 AM...

 

[masospaghetti]

Advance sells a reman "Toughone" alternator for $140. With coupons you can get it around $100 shipped to your door.

Otherwise, Rockauto has a new Remy Gold 92400 alternator for $117 with no core.

I think you would be best served with one of these two choices. Alternators don't fail that often. IMO, Remy is usually a good brand. I have no idea who does the remans for Advance.

 

[Maniak]

Does anyone have some advice, or experience with any of these alternators and feel they can withstand the brutal 115* summers here in Phoenix?

I've used both the Duralast Gold from Autozone and the Ultima Select (new) from Oreilly..

The Duralast Gold lasted for years and worked fine. The only reason I got rid of it was I wanted more amperage so I upgraded from the 95 amp to the 130 amp.

I now use Oreilly and not Autozone so I switched to the Ultimat Select since I have a commercial account there.

Best guess, I have 4 years on this alternator now.. I can't remember when I switched it but it was a while ago..

Last year I changed the pulley on the altenator to a smaller one (IIRc, it is 3" now) to help get more amperage at idle but if you spend a lot of time at 3000 rpms or so you will burn up the bearing on the alternator quicker. We used to have this problem back around 2000 when we were at 2700 rpm on the freeway and ran a 3" pulley. The bearing would go bad after 30k-40k miles..

~Mark

 

[toypaseo]

Does anyone have some advice, or experience with any of these alternators and feel they can withstand the brutal 115* summers here in Phoenix?

Now that I caught that bit of info, I can understand your concern for having a spare. I was in Phoenix from 2000-2002. My g/f had a 97 Pontiac Sunfire SE coupe. I think we replaced the alternator twice, along with other made-to-fail items on that wonderful GM product.

I would definitely purchase a quality product with a decent warranty.

On another note, no breakdowns with my Paseo