Alternator going bad?

[urbansurfer]

Hi Everyone,

Did a quick search and didn't find anything the same as what i'm having.

Here's what i'm facing:

Every now and then (no pattern, typically once every few weeks), my car fails to start. Last few times, the gauges went crazy and I still had power in the cabin and headlights.

Today, when I turned the ignition, everything went out. Lights, locks, everything.

Each time when I boost the car, it starts up fine. A couple weeks ago my AP was showing battery volt at about 14.2, today, AP shows it between 13.0 and 13.5 at idle and revving

Battery is about a year and a half old (but I know you can get a shit one sometimes).

Any suggestions on what I can do to test this sucker out without having to go to a shop? I don't have a multimeter, only the AP...

[Raider]

Auto parts stores do free testing. My vote is bad battery.

[urbansurfer]

Thanks,

Just got back from partsource. Battery tested good, alternator is only putting out 13.5ish so it is weak. My guess is that the combination between barely driving and very short trips is not giving the battery enough time to charge.

Side note: Alternators for MS6 are $400+! just under $300 Canadian for a rebuilt, and stealership list price is around $800. WTF??

[wadestone13]

Originally Posted by urbansurfer Thanks, Just got back from partsource. Battery tested good, alternator is only putting out 13.5ish so it is weak. My guess is that the combination between barely driving and very short trips is not giving the battery enough time to charge. Side note: Alternators for MS6 are $400+! just under $300 Canadian for a rebuilt, and stealership list price is around $800. WTF??

dude those are really overpriced parts. try canvassing for more cheap alternators. ask around, im sure you'll find a better one.

Cheers.

[tddvrrn]

@urbansurfer: alternators are going for less than $100 here

[wadestone13]

a hundred bucks?? not bad man.

[urbansurfer]

Holy thread-revival batman.

Quick update on that situation. Battery tested out ok. Turns out it was a shitty cable. Its always the simplest things isn't it? What threw me for a loop on this one is that the cable looked to be in perfect condition (no corrosion or anything)..

Anyways, my concern about those parts is that the listing pulls up auto wreckers. IMO, I would rather use something rebuilt or new. Especially if its something that has a tendency to fail after some time. What's to say that the $100 used alternator won't die next year?

I ended up getting a rebuilt alternator from a hookup I have at the Mazda parts counter. IIRC, it was under $200

Originally Posted by wadestone13 dude those are really overpriced parts. try canvassing for more cheap alternators. ask around, im sure you'll find a better one. Cheers.

I actually called pretty much every alternator shop/parts store in the city. No one carried an alternator for my car. The only 2 were the stealership and napa autoparts. I think they wanted $300 for the rebuilt unit. Also forget finding a rebuild kits. Those don't exist (at least not where I live)

Same thing for rear rotors actually. The only places that carried were a bumper-to-bumper and the dealership :/

[urbansurfer]

Wadestone13, the link you provided sells rebuilt alternators for 230. Good price but with shipping to canada comes out to just over $300, so no different than the other place i found locally.

Shipping goes from $8 within the us to $54 to canada! We get raped on this shit