2 alternators in under a year. Crappy rebuilding or wiring problems with the car?

[jimtash]

Just had this one pop the charging light and it doesn't even have 1K miles on it. Light is barely on but once under load like the cooling fan kicking on or lights, the light glows bright. Engine has this lopey idle because of it. It has a lifetime warranty but I'm more concerned if anything in the wiring is causing it and what to look for.

One thing I've noticed as well is anytime the cooling fan shuts off no matter the temp of the coolant, such as doing an idle reset procedure, the engine has this lopey idle that sometimes clears up and sometimes doesn't. These two issues are related since the idle now mimics exactly what I just described above since the charging light came on even without the fan ever running. Somewhere there has to be a huge draw that is causing it.

Any suggestions?

 

[RonPorter]

Crappy Rebuilds.

Common Problem.

FWIW, I and a few others have had decent luck with rebuilds from Advance.

Best advice seems to be to have your original alternator rebuilt by a local shop (if you still have it).

 

[93markVIII]

+1 on crappy rebuilds.

also +1 on a reputable shop rebuild.

more often than not, new brushes and a voltage regulator will fix you right up. SHO rpm does a number on the brushes.
new bearings if its squeaking.
rarely do the coils go bad.

 

[Irish Pride]

Buy a Motorcraft and be done with it. When it comes to Ford alts. i make a point to spend the extra money and get a MC. If i already have a Motorcraft then i do as Ron suggested and get it rebuilt myself. The cheap ones from the parts stores are cheap for a reason.

 

[SHOtimer]

I echo what's already been said. It's the crappy rebuilds. Pulling an alt out of a j-yard car gives you a better chance of getting a good one than a chain store re-manned unit.

I keep waiting for my original one to go out....253k on it, no problems yet.

Doug

 

[sdpatt]

The original on my SHO went 252,000 miles. Since then, I am on the ninth rebuild. Some have lasted only a few days. The country in which they are rebuilt has had a direct correlation on the life of the part. Last one was rebuilt in USA and has been going for two years. Lifetime warranties are great, but not a guarantee of quality.

 

[jimtash]

Yeah I saw some outrageous mileage out of the original as well. All the rebuilt ones are 90 amps but the Motorcraft is 120. What's up with that? The thing that turned me away from Motorcraft wasn't so much the price but the warranty. They only have a year on them. I'm coming to same conclusion though and just like MAF sensors, OEM seems to be the way to go with alternators as well.

Might buy a used one on here for cheap. Got an offer for one and that might be the best option of all. I'll take this one back and get a refund.

 

[rubydist]

the only ones I have found that last are the NAPA lifetime warranty ones.

 

[jimtash]

That's what this one is. Part 13-8480.

 

[SHOspazz92]

Jim,

Another option over buying a Motorcraft ($$$) is finding a reputable auto-electric shop to rebuild it. I've had this done on two separate 95's. On my last one, the guy offered to try to retrofit a few newer ford parts in to the alternator. I forgot exactly what he was able to put in, but he said it upped the output to 140 amps and it didn't cost me anything extra. Total cost was 135 dollars.

This was for a Ford 3G alternator (94-95), so I would imagine a 89 non 3G amp would be cheaper.

-Sam

 

[jimtash]

Thinking since the original is long gone I only have two options. Get a replacement under warranty or buy the one off here. The one off here has been rebuilt and supposedly runs fine. Probably the way to go.

The POS in the car is only putting out 11.78 volts. I doubt it has 700 miles on it. Car sounds like crap and probably related to some of the other issues. Especially after large current draws like the fan that are impacting other systems. I was wondering why the dash and headlights seemed slightly dimmer than usual the past few days even though the charging light was off.

 

[Shovert]

I am like the rest on alternators. Put 4 rebuilt one's in my 89 2.3t Mustang. The pulley even came off one. Advance auto parts one. I still have the "lifetime" one under my workbench. I an now over 2 years on a used 3G off a 96 Mustang. I would find local rebuilder if possible. Maurice

 

[EL SHO]

I've also had my stories with alternators/voltage regulators. Right now I'm on my third Alt which I found a local shop that retro-fitted the components from another alt into the one that's currently in my car.
Since the voltage regulators and the Alts on these cars are not cheap, the guy a the shop offered me to do a conversion to an external voltage regulator that is more "mainstream" and widely available than for the Alt of an ATX SHO.

I didn't know that the internals of a 96 Mustang alt could fit? From a V8 Mustang 4.6?

 

[SHOtime2511]

Purchase a good used motorcraft if money is tight.

 

[sperold]

Take your lifetime warranty one back and get a new one, but in the mean-time, get a used one off this forum.
I had a lot of problems with the small alternators on my 90, put quite a few on in the first few years. Then I got a used one off this forum, had it checked at a rebuild shop, they gave it an ok, I put it on, and it has been on there ever since.
The other thing I did was get all the brackets and bolts to install the newer unit (like the 94 or 95) at the same time, and that seemed to fix my jinx. Have not needed it yet.

 

[jimtash]

Yep, reordered another from Napa and also got the used one off of here with I believe 96K miles. What happened to the current one is the stud at the output terminal is loose. If I wiggle the wire around I can get it to produce around 13.86 volts but then it'll become erratic and quickly start dropping.