skottydznt

iTrader: (11)

Hey guys,
The last few days I've noticed my car has a little bit of struggle starting. I assumed it was the battery because my sound system tends to go through batteries every few years. However, I stopped by auto zone to put the battery tester on my car and it turns out the alternator is bad, more specifically the voltage regulator within the alternator. Im planning on swapping the alternator myself as the DIY seems pretty straightforward. Has anyone ever bought the alternator themselves and swapped it? Im trying to figure out if i should buy a denso remanufactured one from like rock auto for about 150 or cough up the cash for a brand new one from sewell for close to 400. I don't plan on keep the car more than another 3 years maximum if that helps provide me with advice. Thanks for the help and any feedback is much appreciated!

Tungstn-IS

I bought the alternator and installed it myself. I found the hidden rear bracket to be quite the pain in the ****. Some people said they have no problems with doing it from above, but their hands must be child size or something. I resorted to going from underneath and moving the a/c out of the way, which was way easier than trying to fiddle with that bracket from above...at least for my gorilla hands anyway.

ecr527

If you don't plan to keep the car for more than 3 years, I would get the Rock Auto, or even an Auto Zone, Discount Auto etc part and save the extra money. A remanufactured alternator from any of them should easily last at least another 5 years.

Gville350

iTrader: (10)

Go with an AutoZone reman with lifetime warranty. $160 + tax with the core exchange.

carlos3366

lifetime warranty is good, the only problem is you have to do all the work over again & again.

skottydznt

iTrader: (11)

Thanks everyone for the feedback! went with the dense remanufactured one from rockauto.