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[3ES] Alternator Roulette?

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Old 06-30-15, 07:45 AM
  #1  
JDMSteven
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Default [3ES] Alternator Roulette?

I have TERRIBLE luck with alternators. Last year the alternator went out on my Lincoln Navigator (17x,xxx miles) so I replaced it. Still wasn't charging. Replaced again. Still not charging. #3 was the charm. The first two were Driveworks from Advance but then I went to a Duralast for the 3rd one so I thought that it would be a good choice for my 99 ES (145k) that stopped charging at idle.

Just changed the alternator and took it to Autozone. Guess what?

NOT CHARGING!

It's a good thing this alternator is easy to get to, changing it again tomorrow.
Old 06-30-15, 09:47 AM
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Oro
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Those failure points aren't abnormal for Florida heat.

Next time, try having it locally rebuilt. Then you won't have to play the lowest-cost-Chinese-supplier roulette.

The downside is having to use another vehicle a few days, the upside is it's done right and for at/about the same cost. I rebuilt my own in our 02 last year for this reason - making sure it was done right vs. mis-matched parts in offshore rebuilds. This is a VERY common complaint.
Old 06-30-15, 03:41 PM
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surgeon0
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Yeah. Agree on rebulid. Get a denso reman, new Bosh, or NAPA. Duralast is not recommended though it is very local to do exchanges. Also heard that Beck Arnley was acceptable but not sure.
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