Do alternators just die?

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Honky Kong jr

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That's what's nice about wally-world batteries. If it fails within three years it's free replacement.
I bought my S10 with a soon out of warranty Neverstart Gold in it. And well my current truck is on the 4th interaction of that warranty. They accually stopped putting date stickers on them which made it hard to keep an eye on. Happy days they went back to stickers I guess it made it easier for the employees to decipher. Lol
 

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I had an interstate one that "fell off a truck" one time and it didnt last long... this napa has been the best to me so far.
 

Charlie

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When I purchased my truck in July 2015, needed battery and PO put an Optima Red Top in it. Needless to say, I was shocked he put that type of battery in it to sell. I was expecting a Wally World battery. Oh well, has been great, no complaints.
 

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I bought my S10 with a soon out of warranty Neverstart Gold in it. And well my current truck is on the 4th interaction of that warranty. They accually stopped putting date stickers on them which made it hard to keep an eye on. Happy days they went back to stickers I guess it made it easier for the employees to decipher. Lol
Our driver clued me in on something-they melt the date code into the case too(as long as its not a reconditioned one). Should be by the positive post. (Well, on interstates...) Sometimes the sides...
 

1987 GMC Jimmy

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Do you guys not trust locally rebuilt alternators, or does no one do that anymore in some places? I just take mine to the shop, they’re done by lunch, and I keep going. I’m referring to an out of warranty situation, by the way. Of course it makes sense to get a new shiny one for free if you can.
 

78C10BigTen

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Do you guys not trust locally rebuilt alternators, or does no one do that anymore in some places? I just take mine to the shop, they’re done by lunch, and I keep going.
Im relatively fresh living here and idk where to even look near here. But raises a good point because all the alts you get from parts stores are reman anyway so why not have it rebuilt (or serviced) reliably from a local for cheaper (hopefully). If your gunna get a reman why not buy local and help the little man that has a better quality product.
 

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It costs $60 to do where I’m from. I’ve never bought an alternator, but I’ve had plenty rebuilt and/or worked on locally with good results. There’s another guy who does it about twenty minutes from where I’m from (the closer one is ten minutes), and both are good at it. They rebuild starters, too, which is another thing I’ve gotten done. Never had to buy one of those either.
 

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It costs $60 to do where I’m from. I’ve never bought an alternator, but I’ve had plenty rebuilt and/or worked on locally with good results. There’s another guy who does it about twenty minutes from where I’m from (the closer one is ten minutes), and both are good at it. They rebuild starters, too, which is another thing I’ve gotten done. Never had to buy one of those either.
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Leavin work today and the truck started fine, drove 6 miles to the grocery store and went to leave and just click click click. Tightened power on battery and no change. All lights and everything are normal, got a jump and fired right up. Driving home the amp gauge never left the the low red. When i shut it off at home and tried to restard it had nothing but all interior light and everything are normal. So im assuming the alternator ****... do the just go with no warning??? Also auto store said its a single wire, is there a difference in the plugs?

With all due respect guys, all this, "I had this happen to me one time"..... Bad alternator, buy another one".... Take part of the truck to Auto Crap" --- does not help big10 a bit.. Guesswork never fixes anything..

Bigten, here's the proper way to determine your problem and put an end to the guess work.. If you arbitrarily buy an electrical part, install it and that doesn't fix the problem, most parts stores won't allow a return (refund) on electrical parts.. You're stuck with it.. If you don't have the skills to test the charging system yourself, or don't have the proper equipment to do so, charge the phucken battery to the point that it will start the engine.. Drive the COMPLETE TRUCK to a reputable repair facility -- NOT O'Smartlys, NOT Auto Crap.. A reputable repair facility.. Let them check your complete charging system and starter.. If you want to replace the defective parts yourself. pay the guys for doing the diagnostic work for you.. This removes all the guess work..
 

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So after its all said and done, had the alt and battery tested. battery was low on charge but alt was cooked. New alt and shes all good again.

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illmanners

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Based on what you are saying, my best guess is alternator is bad, however, you mentioned that you "tighten the power on battery" so am assuming you meant that you had to tighten the battery cables which should have already been tight. So, let's start with the basics. 1. Check all battery, starter and alternator connections.Pull both battery terminals off and clean them and the posts until they are as close to spotless as you can get them.2. Make sure you don't have an interior light remaining on overnight that is draining the battery. 3.Pull the alternator, have parts store check it as it can't be checked properly while on the vehicle. They can check your battery while in the vehicle if that becomes necessary. (battery must develop, in most cases 12.8 volts to spin a starter properly but based on what you are saying, I doubt it's the battery itself.) Starter and starter solenoid have to be checked while off the vehicle as well. Please keep us posted and good luck !!
 

illmanners

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Thank for posting back and be well.
 

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When I purchased my truck in July 2015, needed battery and PO put an Optima Red Top in it. Needless to say, I was shocked he put that type of battery in it to sell. I was expecting a Wally World battery. Oh well, has been great, no complaints.

I bought an optima after going through a few "blem" batteries an a new one. I got that red top in 2007 and its still kicking just fine. Best $180 I ever spent...
 

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I guess I'm a smart alec, I could write for pages and pages about starters and alternators. The biggest problem with buying a starter or alternator from the auto parts stores is, I've been doing this for 35 years, and they were crap 35 years ago before China was invented. And they've only gotten worse. Yeah they look shiny and beautiful, but when I ran my auto repair shop 25-30 years ago, I'd buy a reman, open it up and tighten the loose bolts, or replace the missing washer, or put things in the correct order. And that was when they were reman in USA or Canada. So I figured out how to rebuild it myself, I went to a rebuilder supplier, and I bought boxes of all the little regulators and diode trios and bushings and bearings and all the little parts that go bad, these were all made in Canada at the time. And my box is getting near the bottom. I can tell by that alternator you installed with the machined pulley, that it's made in Mexico or China, GM only used spot welded together stamped steel pulleys except on the giant 100 amp Cadillacs, and those are the best ever made, along with the giant Ford, and the giant Chrysler. But that's another story. Back to your aIt, I see those alternators at all the auto parts stores or ebay, sometimes even chromed. And they last for about a year or so, and then whatever goes wrong goes wrong, I'm in the habit of taking apart my vintage made in USA starters, and replacing exactly what's necessary, but that's my skill at work. I happen to be friendly with a large Starter Alternator caliper shop in Montreal, the biggest one in Canada. A couple times a year and I make the trip there, and I go through his core bins, and I mean this place is huge. So I bug him until he throws me out of there, but I go to his bins and take little parts and pieces that I used to buy from the other rebuilding supply. But now even the brushes and bushings and drives, are all made in China.
It's just easier for these guys to buy them brand new and shiny then to deal with rebuilding stuff, or dealing with arrigant American suppliers that want to sell you a million pieces when you really only need a hundred thousand. If you look on eBay, there's guys selling genuine AC Delco brushes for instance for my 6.2 diesel, but they want $10 for 4 brushes plus shipping, and they're only worth $2, but I guess they're worth $15 if that's what people are paying. I rebuild the starter on my friend 67 Corvair last year, he bought it in 1971 and it has 45,000 miles now, and when I opened it up, the original brushes were still in there with Delco embossed on the side. So I took a core starter that he had lying around, and even though the brushes were aftermarket, the fact that he only puts on a couple thousand miles a year, it'll last him 25 more years. All that was wrong with his starter was it needed some grease on the bushings, and it was making a horrible noise, and I fixed it all up and he didn't even know that I was in there, because I'm very fussy to put things back exactly the way I found them. I have videos on YouTube of me rebuilding the starters on my 6.2 diesel. That big rebuilding guy in Montreal says "you're crazy, put on the gear reduction 6.5 starter!" I say, nah... I rebuild my starters and they last for years. I guess I'm just lucky to have the skill to take apart and make it work when I put it back together. Now that I'm done ranting, may I suggest that you watch a video on YouTube? Sometimes these things are a lot simpler than you think, once you watch somebody else doing it. If I would describe how to take an alternator apart and put it back together, you wouldn't be able to do it because there are a couple of tricks, especially if you live in the Rust Belt and have bolts break, and you wish you wouldn't have touched it. It surprises me that the auto parts only gets 20 bucks for a 305 or 350 starter, I just can't imagine how they could make all these parts brand new in China, ship it over here, and the store makes a profit after they sell it for $20.

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