my alternator went today, battery light came on, autozone tested the electrical system the guy said is not charging properly im getting about 11-11.5 volts, my battery is only a year old, im so pissed right now, just needed to vent a little, how many hrs labor you guys think to change this on a 400 just to get a idea and get ready to bend over. damn it just what i needed

 

I wonder if you just need to replace the voltage regulator of the alternator. It's a lot cheaper than replacing the whole alternator.

Mario

 

i have the same problem rite now but the thing is i just replaced the alternator so i look again and my power steering fluid is leaking on to my alternator so u might have this problem i also have a gs400

 

should be no more than 1-1.5 hours for the job.

 

My altenator just went dead on me today!! I'm thinking its going to run about $400.

 

I'm having to replace my alternator tomorrow. I need a new alternator belt, too and it's going to run $575 out the door. Is this common to have an alternator that needs to be replaced at 79k miles? Seems a little too premature for a "Lexus."

 

Shouldn't be too bad of a job if your mechanically inclined, less than two hours in and out. You can pick these up all day long on ebay for about $125 shipped. A belt should run you about $20 and then just the time to do it.

 

if you know anyone who owns a shop and use their lift, the job is no longer than a 30 to 45 min job. Hour max, I did mine using a buddy's shop, key note (patience)

 

alldata says for replacing the alternator sshouls only be 1 hour max...just make sure you take it to someone who knows how to take of the belt...i had a honda mechanic do it on my car and he stripped the tensioner (dumbass)...should only be about 300 max!

 

Agreed but I'm now having to change mine at guess when.....79400 miles!

I too was hoping it would last longer. I've ordered an alternator on line and am hoping I can change it myself. I'm now having trouble just getting it off the engine.

 

to do it, but it depends on the manual rates.


i had to go to a shop to have them torch off 2 exhaust bolts and bolt up my l-tuned axle back.

i timed it, they were working on the car for 37 min, they charged me for the 2 bolts and 1.5 hours of labor. reasoning? it's what the book said.

so for a job that should have cost $50, i was forced to swallow a $140 charge.

 

I can swap out the alternator on a GS300 in about 10 minutes flat if the engine is cold. On a hot engine it will take me about 15-20 minutes because you gotta be extra careful not to get burned lol. A GS400 takes me about 20 minutes because there's less clearance, but it's still a fairly trivial procedure.

Very easy if you want to take a shot at it, here are the basic instructions:
- Disconnect negative battery terminal
- 14mm socket on the tensioner and turn clockwise to loosen belt
- Remove belt off alternator, don't have to remove entire belt
- Remove 12mm nut on the alternator power cable and disconnect the plastic connector.
- Remove the 14mm bolt and a 14mm nut on the alternator.
- Pull out alternator.
- Reinstall everything in reverse order

EDIT: I forgot to add, the alternator in my car went out and I have about 30k miles. I have an aftermarket coolant overflow tank and it dripped all over my alternator when I overfilled it.

 

This how all auto repair works. You cant punish more talented techs for being able to work faster than a slower tech, that would not make any sense. Standardized rates are there to protect you from being reamed by slow/dumb/incompetent techs that take too long on simple jobs. If that job had taken 4 hours and they charged you 1.5 you would be happy right? Also 1.5 hours is for one tech. If there are more then one of course it will go faster but you cant pay only one.

Sorry just a pet peeve of mine since I used to work in the auto service field and had to explain why our techs knocked out 5 hour jobs in 2 hours to customers all day long. No ill feelings just my opinion.



Back to the topic - shop around. Any tech who knows this car should beable to get you taken care of for a decent price.