alternators

[monoblanco]

I need one.
Anything I should know before buying?
Any brands I should stay away from?
M42.

[MR 325]

Honestly if it were me I'd just go with an Autozone reman'd alternator. I think they're $130 or so with lifetime warranty. Otherwise you can't go wrong with a Bosch but that's $190 or so.

[hendrixvodu]

Deff go reman I went through 4 junk yard alternators till I gave up and got the autozone one

[jlevie]

In my experience, the generic reman alternators are an iffy thing. Sometimes the don't work out of the box and other times they fail shortly after installation. In the most extreme case I went through three units in a few weeks before I gave up and got a Bosch reman.

[nando]

when do you really need to replace it? mine's the original. replaced the regulator/brushes once for $20. it's got about 260k on it now.

when the bearings fail?

[matthugie]

In my experience, the generic reman alternators are an iffy thing. Sometimes the don't work out of the box and other times they fail shortly after installation. In the most extreme case I went through three units in a few weeks before I gave up and got a Bosch reman.

This. The alternator in my 24v car we think out, went through 4 autozone remans, 3 of which never made it out of the driveway because they were so bad. Went OEM and everything has been sweet.

[LateFan]

I would vote Bosch. However, my local NAPA offers a lifetime warranty on alts purchased in his store only, for $85. Keep that receipt.

[Balleristic31]

I got a Bosch unit that failed in about a year, then warranty swapped it and its been fine for about a year now.

Idk about autozone ones... I work there and have seen more than one case of an alternator being bad RIGHT OUT OF THE BOX. Not super confident in them myself. But the warranty is fantastic.

[diamonddonbmw]

Thanks for info. Getting second one in less than a year. Any suggestions for helping them last longer? Is there any common issue? 91 M42

[jlevie]

While any alternator or starter can suffer early failures, I've seen so many generic remans fail that now I only use a Bosch Factory rebuilt (it will be in a black box).