Best place to buy a new alternator?

[JCH13]

I think that in the 70-80's, many voltage regulators were no longer a seperate unit but built into the alternator units.

1. If the battery was dying; after 5-6 starts, he would be in trouble.
   [*]If the alternator was dead; the battery will no charge, and see #1
2. If the regulator is shot or a wiring short, the battery level will discharge when not in use and then while driving get charged back up to normal.

^This.

Also, a shop doesn't remove your alternator, rebuild it, and then put it back in. You would buy a rebuilt core of another alternator.

 

[LTC8K6]

^This.

Also, a shop doesn't remove your alternator, rebuild it, and then put it back in. You would buy a rebuilt core of another alternator.

The shop near me expects you to bring in your alternator/starter, and come back a couple hours later to pick it up. So you get your original part back, rebuilt, with a nice warranty.

 

[JCH13]

The shop near me expects you to bring in your alternator/starter, and come back a couple hours later to pick it up. So you get your original part back, rebuilt, with a nice warranty.

Weird, I've never heard of that before. Cool.

 

[wirednuts]

most alternator rebuild shops are gone these days. just go to autozone and buy a rebuilt from them. they usually work fine, and if it doesnt autozone will replace it no questions.

 

[JulesMaximus]

most alternator rebuild shops are gone these days. just go to autozone and buy a rebuilt from them. they usually work fine, and if it doesnt autozone will replace it no questions.

That's a hassle though and the main reason why I wouldn't buy a rebuilt alternator for a car I'm relying on as a daily driver. The risk of being left stranded on the side of the road is just not worth it even if I saved $100 vs going with the OEM Honda part.

I used to work with a guy who had a Fox body Mustang. They were notorious for failed water pumps at around 90k miles. He would buy the NAPA water pump with the lifetime warranty and about a year later that one would fail so he'd pull the pump, take it down to NAPA and get a replacement which would fail about a year later. I think the NAPA part was about half the cost of the genuine Ford part (I know, because I had a Fox body Mustang GT at that time) and ended up putting a Ford water pump in it. I never had to deal with it again.

Drain the cooling system, remove the fan/fan clutch assembly, remove the water pump, clean the mating surfaces, replace the gasket, install the pump. It wasn't anywhere near being worth the hassle for the $75 you would save buying the NAPA part with the "lifetime" guarantee.