so my car is 126k miles, just replaced the battery last Nov, all of sudden the battery light came up while i was driving. the AAA guy said its the alternator that dont charge anymore.

its only 126k, is it normal? good thing i have warranty.

thanks rominl btw

 

Sounds normal usually last 100,000 miles so I think you did well.

 

good to know. thx bigblack!

 

There is actually no mileage that determines when an alternator needs to be changed. Some cars at 10k some over 150k miles. I honestly think its done well and just in time/mileage.

 

just buy the contact part and take theold one out and pop the new one in. Nice $15 fix that will get you another 125,000 miles. Same deal for starter. Sewell's sells both pieces. I Have them on hand for both Lexus' and have done this in my 1991 4runner several times and still have original alternator and starter in the truck.

 

exactly. not sure why everyone thinks parts have a set mileage on them before they fail

 

^^^ well i have no idea how long alternator gonna last, i have few other lexus that past 120k miles and seems still running fine (maybe just matter of time ?), so just need to figure out if it's normal / not on 06 GS430

dropped at the shop this morning, the 3rd party warranty cover it...

 

What is this contact part you speak of? My car is at 58k, new interstate battery and my car was dead when i went to start in this cold weather. Jump started and everything ran fine.

 

First off, thank you for using the search button! I'm glad you brought up an old thread rather than post up a new post!

Can you post up which engine you have on the vehicle? that may help them figure out which contact part you need.

Also, I don't believe your alt is bad if your battery was dead on cold start. Usually you can tell an alternator is bad if the car dies won't stay on after you've jumped it. It's a tell tale sign that you're losing voltaging and your alternator is no good.

 

Thanks, I'm quite new to this forum so I'm just do due dliigence. This morning my car had a rough start, but it finally cranked over and I was able to drive to work just fine. I have a rear wheel drive V6. I don't believe its the alternator either because there are no signs. I believe its the batter that's somehow bad or the starter? Any thoughts or tests would be greatly appreciated.

 

buy a multimeter, you will set it to DC voltage settings, your battery at rest (with car off) should be around 12.6V, if the alternator is good? 13.4-14.2v should be your readings.

If it is the battery, then the engine should sound like it's dying, trying to start.... If that explains a bit.

If it's your starter, then the engine shouldn't make a noise, rather the engine won't even try to turn over.

Hope that helps in your diagnosis!

 

I just had my alternator changed with 114,000 miles on my 2006 GS300.

 

http://lexus.sewellparts.com/oem-cat...S350-2007.html

Part 27370 hold the brushes aka contacts that wear down.

 

It also seems like depends on the cars too.
My friends' 2001 RX300 the alternator lasted close to 300,000miles.

 

Problem solved so far. Who knows if the cold weather had a factor but they replaced the battery at no cost since I just bought the thing like 5 months ago. They tested the old battery and it had a bad cell! I have not had an issue since then. The battery hooked up tested JUST above ok and the alternator tested find during this issue. out of pocket to fix was $0 which is the blessing! Thanks for all the input!