uto, all the sudden my, parking brake ,egr ,and charging lights and a couple of others are coming on, they dim slightly when the rpm increases, i have heard of this before, i cant remember the cause, any ideas

sounds like your alternator is on its way out. Dim dash warning lights is usually a symptom of that

ditto on the alternator

Ditto on the ditto for the alternator.

Dont sit around and wait for it to finally give out cause chances are it will do it on its on time and at the most inconvenient time for you. Take the thing off and take it to autozone or whatever you have and have them look test it. Its not hard to take off at all; I can have my brats off in less than 5 minutes.

It's your voltage regulator inside the alternator. They are about $13.00 at Autozone. To replace it, you'll have to unsolder the old one and solder in the new one. It's not hard if you can solder.

cool thanks for the autozone tip. no problem there, been rebuilding delco alts for years now,

It's your voltage regulator inside the alternator. They are about $13.00 at Autozone. To replace it, you'll have to unsolder the old one and solder in the new one. It's not hard if you can solder.

 

 

The problem is actually getting them. I have yet to see one available in any autozone (even a couple times when they say they have them)

 

99.9% of the time a straight alt swap makes more sense.

I agree with you Calebz. For the cost and time it takes to really rebuild a alternator I think you are ahead of the game just getting a rebuilt one that also includes a warranty if something goes wrong.

Dude, you dont want to try and be all cheap when it comes to fixing your alternator. Its like 60 bucks for one at the autozone and its exactly the same as the one you got just says "Reman in Malaysia" or something like that.

 

You should get a new one ASAP. Everytime they have went out on me they blew a gaugle cluster light and those arent fun to fix. If you wait and see how long you can put it off chances are you'll be paying a higher sum to get towed home plus the cost of an alternator. Financially its the better decesion.

Dude, you dont want to try and be all cheap when it comes to fixing your alternator. Its like 60 bucks for one at the autozone and its exactly the same as the one you got just says "Reman in Malaysia" or something like that.

 

You should get a new one ASAP. Everytime they have went out on me they blew a gaugle cluster light and those arent fun to fix. If you wait and see how long you can put it off chances are you'll be paying a higher sum to get towed home plus the cost of an alternator. Financially its the better decesion.

 

The problem with purchasing a "rebuilt" is most of the time they install Chinese bearings. If you just repack the original Japinese bearings during your own rebuild, your rebuild will last many times longer than the comercially rebuilt unit. Chinese bearings are pure JUNK. If you don't believe it, phone any industrial bearing supplier and ask them.

The problem with purchasing a "rebuilt" is most of the time they install Chinese bearings. If you just repack the original Japinese bearings during your own rebuild, your rebuild will last many times longer than the comercially rebuilt unit. Chinese bearings are pure JUNK. If you don't believe it, phone any industrial bearing supplier and ask them.

I work for a bearing company called INA while goingto school and we have a few bearings that are made in China and I agree. They are stupid enough to put about 30 in a big tube and not seal both ends of it. I learned that the hard way when bearings went shooting across the warehouse floor.

 

I have had bad experience with the guy here in town that does alternator and starter rebuilds; everytime I have been there I always end up paying the same amount for him to fix one component of my alt. when I could have just bought a rebuilt one for the same price and it not blow my dash lights 6 months later; happened a few months ago.

not to mention that a bad alternator can fry a perfectly good battery as well...left too long and you will be replacing both!

The problem with purchasing a "rebuilt" is most of the time they install Chinese bearings. If you just repack the original Japinese bearings during your own rebuild, your rebuild will last many times longer than the comercially rebuilt unit. Chinese bearings are pure JUNK. If you don't believe it, phone any industrial bearing supplier and ask them.

 

 

I have no opinion on that being true or not.

 

I can tell you that bearings are not the weak link in these alternators though.

 

I have replaced well over a dozen of them. Many of them rebuilts. Not once has it been because of bearing failure.

I've never replaced one from bearing failure either. I would say that I've replaced the majority from worn out brushes and the rest from bad rectifiers or voltage regulators. The bearings are TOUGH, and even having the belts extremely tight rarely kills them.

 

GD