February 23, 200818 yr Author Do I have to point out that it only takes a 10, 12 and 13 mm socket and 15 minutes to swap out an alt? It's right there, easy to take off and on, no reaching around. In the time it took you to post this, read the responses, and post up your response, you could have had it swapped out. Who cares if it burnt up in 8 mo's, get the free replacement and throw it on. If they need it to test bad, there's ways to kill them. Bring the smoking wreckage in and get yours exchanged. Oh, to be 19 again with all the time and not a care in the world... 91Loyale, I find it absurd to replace an alternator every 2,300 miles (yes, that’s two thousand three hundred miles) and risk getting stranded not knowing when the POS alt will die on me. I guess I have higher expectations and demands for my hard earned money.
February 24, 200818 yr Oh, to be 19 again with all the time and not a care in the world... 91Loyale, I find it absurd to replace an alternator every 2,300 miles (yes, that’s two thousand three hundred miles) and risk getting stranded not knowing when the POS alt will die on me. I guess I have higher expectations and demands for my hard earned money. Hey, I'm replacing engines at about a 10k interval in my car, and trannies at 8k intervals, so an alternator seems like an easy problem to have. Alts don't usually leave you stranded either. It's not like the T-belt that stops you dead. You usually have 10-15 miles run time on the battery. But yes, always spend you hard earned money, and lots of it, buying dealership service and parts. It's just the right thing to do.
February 24, 200818 yr Alts don't usually leave you stranded either. It's not like the T-belt that stops you dead. You usually have 10-15 miles run time on the battery. That depends on how they fail. It's very often the brushes that go - they arc and pop and blow the rectifier circuits. Then you are at the mercy of the electrical gods. Maybe it just dies, or maybe it goes over voltage, or maybe it produces a ton of AC voltage and blows stuff up. Without the VR, an alt can easily push 120 volts of AC. Try that with 12v components. But yes, always spend you hard earned money, and lots of it, buying dealership service and parts. It's just the right thing to do. The dealership's prices (for Subaru anyway) are often well worth the extra quality. GD
February 24, 200818 yr Author Hey, I'm replacing engines at about a 10k interval in my car, and trannies at 8k intervals, so an alternator seems like an easy problem to have. Alts don't usually leave you stranded either. It's not like the T-belt that stops you dead. You usually have 10-15 miles run time on the battery. But yes, always spend you hard earned money, and lots of it, buying dealership service and parts. It's just the right thing to do. Thanks to this folks at USMB, I used Jason at Subaru of Auburn, WA at 1-866-528-5282 and spent only $126.96 for an OEM Subaru rebuilt alternator WITHOUT core exchange and WITH shipping. That's less than the Autozone POS WITH a core exchange. Real Subaru parts for less money for do-it-yourself repairs. By the way, 10-15 minutes run time doesn't help you if you're in the middle of nowhere, where a lot of us Subaru types go with our Subies:dead:
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