ltkenbo
New Member
Hello, new to the forum and am in need of a replacement alternator. I'll give you the story first though.
I have a 1999 EX Sedan. Several months ago the factory alternator went bad as my battery would no longer charge and the car died while the engine was running. So I took out the alternator myself, got a rebuilt one from Oreilly autoparts, and traded in my stock core to get the core cost back. I installed the new one, and the car seemed just fine then, measured the voltage at the battery when the car was running and it was up to normal charging voltage (like 13.9 V or something).
A week later, all of a sudden I smell a real nasty smell and notice that my battery lights and others start coming on in my cluster. I make it to my friends house where we look under the hood. The altnerator had literally like cooked and the inside widings were all black (you could see where the varnish was like melting off the wires). The car wouldn't start again because the alternator wasn't charging the battery anymore and so it was dead. So we took it back to Oreilly, and of course since it's a life time waranty they were going to give me another rebuilt unit. So I ask them first to test the "new" one on the test bench to be sure, they do, and sure enough it fails immediately. So we end up going over to another Oreilly store nearby since the store we were at didn't have any more. We pick up the new one and I install it. Car runs ok, but the voltage is kind of low.
Here's a nice pic for you of the burned up rebuild one:
A month goes by, and everything seems ok, however then one day I'm heading off to work, and all of a sudden lights start coming on in the cluster again. Then my radio turns off and the faceplate comes out like the car is off, I quickly turn around and luckily make it home as the engine is literally stopping as I pull into my apartment. So I yank the alternator back out and bring it into Oreilly again, they test it, and sure enough, it fails immediately.
So what the heck is going on here? I know that rebuilds are notorious for not rebuilding electrical parts that caused the alternator to fail in the first place, and so I'm weary about just getting another rebuild and put it back in. Oreilly tried to see if they could order an actual new unit for me, but they are not available I guess. So they pretty much told me I could get my money back if I wanted.
I thought about putting a brand new one in, but I'm not sure where or which brand to get. I could get another rebuild maybe from somewhere else, maybe a brand that's more reliable. The problem is not the battery, I had it checked to be sure and there doesn't seem to be any shorts or noticible current draw when the car is off. So I need some suggestions on which alternator I should get, and soon. I have another car, but I need to get this one running as my wife needs to use it too. Sorry if the story is kind of long, but just wanted to give any relevent details.
I have a 1999 EX Sedan. Several months ago the factory alternator went bad as my battery would no longer charge and the car died while the engine was running. So I took out the alternator myself, got a rebuilt one from Oreilly autoparts, and traded in my stock core to get the core cost back. I installed the new one, and the car seemed just fine then, measured the voltage at the battery when the car was running and it was up to normal charging voltage (like 13.9 V or something).
A week later, all of a sudden I smell a real nasty smell and notice that my battery lights and others start coming on in my cluster. I make it to my friends house where we look under the hood. The altnerator had literally like cooked and the inside widings were all black (you could see where the varnish was like melting off the wires). The car wouldn't start again because the alternator wasn't charging the battery anymore and so it was dead. So we took it back to Oreilly, and of course since it's a life time waranty they were going to give me another rebuilt unit. So I ask them first to test the "new" one on the test bench to be sure, they do, and sure enough it fails immediately. So we end up going over to another Oreilly store nearby since the store we were at didn't have any more. We pick up the new one and I install it. Car runs ok, but the voltage is kind of low.
Here's a nice pic for you of the burned up rebuild one:
A month goes by, and everything seems ok, however then one day I'm heading off to work, and all of a sudden lights start coming on in the cluster again. Then my radio turns off and the faceplate comes out like the car is off, I quickly turn around and luckily make it home as the engine is literally stopping as I pull into my apartment. So I yank the alternator back out and bring it into Oreilly again, they test it, and sure enough, it fails immediately.
So what the heck is going on here? I know that rebuilds are notorious for not rebuilding electrical parts that caused the alternator to fail in the first place, and so I'm weary about just getting another rebuild and put it back in. Oreilly tried to see if they could order an actual new unit for me, but they are not available I guess. So they pretty much told me I could get my money back if I wanted.
I thought about putting a brand new one in, but I'm not sure where or which brand to get. I could get another rebuild maybe from somewhere else, maybe a brand that's more reliable. The problem is not the battery, I had it checked to be sure and there doesn't seem to be any shorts or noticible current draw when the car is off. So I need some suggestions on which alternator I should get, and soon. I have another car, but I need to get this one running as my wife needs to use it too. Sorry if the story is kind of long, but just wanted to give any relevent details.
to ClubCivic!