ALTERNATOR BAD HELP!!!

TRIBALMAN23

TRIBALMAN23

New Member
Feb 23, 2008
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0
0
#1
Well my car is an 06 GT and i have had the car for about 2 years. Only one owner before me and last night I had a warning light come on telling me that I need to check the charging system. I went to Autozone this morning and they tested it and I actually saw the machine and discovered the alternator is BAD!!

Is this possible on only a 3 year old car? I figured it could just be a bad part but D@MN! I have done some searching for a new one and it seems that I can only get one from a Ford dealer.
A new one for 399.98 and
a reman one for 251.00 with 12,000 mi or 12 month warranty, that is without a core charge.


CAN SOME ONE HELP ME FIND ONE CHEAPER, but good quality?
If I have no choice but to buy the 400 dollar one I will but I figure there has to be a cheaper one.

I called every part place around here (including salvage yards) but it seems that no one has them) anyone have this problem? What did you do? Any other suggestions?
 
#2
As of yesterday, I'm in the same boat. The cheapest ones I have found are on Ebay. I'm not sure if I want to go that route, so I'm still looking.

I'll also throw out a couple of question:

Anyone know of a brand better than the OEM? I'd rather spend more and not deal with this again in another 39K miles.

What all do you have to upgrade to go with the 200A alternator? Is it worth it?


Good luck Tribalman.
 
#4
I actually bought a re manufactured one from alternatorspros.com

Find Your Alternator At Alternator Pros

I got the last one they had at that time. If you read their site you find that is an original ford part just replaced guts. They cost 169.00 flat, FREE OVERNIGHT FEDEX SHIPPING. I live in Missouri and he is in Arizona, and had it today at 10am

I highly recommend them, I just replaced the alternator and found it VERY EASY to replace. DO NOT PAY A SHOP TO DO THIS. TOOK ME ABOUT 30 MIN.

My warranty was up 22,000 miles ago. Hope this helps anyone else having this problem.

BTW Ford dealership wanted an INSANE 400.00 DOLLARS FOR A BRAND NEW ONE OEM!
 
#5
Looks like it's the time of year for alternators to fail. I am on my way back to Columbus, Ohio from Columbia, Missouri and my alternator just failed. I was about 80 miles into my trip home when I noticed the voltage starting to drop on my SCT Livewire. It hovered around 12 volts for a long time.....then 11 volts....but it got down to around 9 volts before the battery guage on the dash really moved :mad: If I were relying on the battery guage then I would have been totally stranded before I knew that there was a problem. Luckily I saw what was happening and pulled off into a gas station. I got a tow to a firestone station (closest authorized service center for my carmax extended warranty), and I'm waiting to hear the estimate. Hopefully they can get me back on the road ASAP since I have a 9 hour drive ahead of me still.

Really, I saw it coming though. Occasionally I would get the camshaft position sensor errors that are an indication that the alternator is about to fail. Plus with the 90 degree + temperatures and the long drive down here I'm sure it helped speed along it's demise. :shrug:
 
#6
Funny, I never got an error code for the cam position sensor. I never got any error codes at all. I would ocasionally get a "check charging system" in the message centre and a battery icon on the dash.

Looks like you ordered from the right place Tribalman ... I'm still waiting.

I'd still like to know from those who have upgraded to a 200A alternator if they upgraded their wires?

Anyone ???
 
#7
My alternator died when my car was just 11 months old, so it was covered by warranty (so was the tow truck that was required to get my car to the dealership). It's been 2 years since it failed, and so far the new alternator is still working great.
 
#8
Well, my reservations with having my alternator replaced at Firestone certainly weren't unfounded. They had my car for about 5 hours to change the alternator.....and when I went to leave the battery light came back on, and the "check charging system" message reappeared. They hooked it back up to the tester, and everything checked out fine. The voltage was back up to 13.5-14 volts, but the battery light stayed on. At that point, I said screw it......as long as the battery was charging I was driving it home. I just monitored the voltage on my Livewire to make sure that everything was ok. :nonono:

When I got home I took it to the local Firestone shop, and after having it for several hours, they realized that the other shop had put the wrong alternator in. The one they used was for non PCM controlled vehicles, so it was charging, but not sending the proper signal to the PCM. This was on Saturday evening, so they couldn't get an alternator. They said that they would get one first thing on Monday. I called at 2PM on Monday, and they had forgotten about it. They said that they would call me back in a bit to confirm that they had one. Still no call. At about 6:00 I went there to see what was up and was told that the guy who was working on it called in sick that day. (so who did I talk with earlier that was supposed to call me back?) This guy finally called around to the dealerships and found an alternator and got it ordered. He said that it would be in on Tuesday morning. At 1:00 Tuesday afternoon I called to see if they had gotten the alternator yet.....nope. At 1:50 they called back and said that the alternator would be in in an hour, so I brought my car in at 3:00. Now I'm waiting for it to be installed. Hopefully it'll be fixed this time because I have to drive to NY early Thursday morning.

I dont really fault firestone that it was the wrong alternator.....it was more the parts dealer that they got the first one from. But now I'll probably have to fight with the warranty place over the difference in cost between the incorrect reman'd alternator from joe bobs auto parts and the correct new alternator from a dealership.:mad:
 
#9
any more word on this issue? mine just went out too...2006 GT...so i was wondering about going with the PA performance for 249.99 or going with the alternator pros refurb for $169...ideas or any more info on alternatorpros.com
 
#12
Yes, there are tons of bad alternators out there. A diode fails and ruins it. Ford has a redesigned alternator out but the part number does not superceed the old part number. So if you have Ford order a new alternator through the parts system you'll get the old one. So you'll need to look up the TSB to replace the alternator and get the new part number. Otherwise you'll be just replacing another one later down the road for the same issue.
 
#13
Oh god, I had the worst experience with alternators a couple weeks ago.

1st off, these alternators are impossible to locate and all places I tried, you need to order it.

I ordered mine from advanced auto parts. the reman one for 250 and a free replacement.

THANK GOD there is a free replacement because the next day I drove 200 miles and the alternator DIED AGAIN!!

**I found out that there was a short. The copper wire running from the battery and plugs into the back of the alternator with the rubber sleeve got a hole in it...the charge from the alternator was going into the frame of the car, not the battery, so the new alternator died. I used electrical tape to cover the hole in the rubber sleeve and put in the new alternator. No prob since. Make sure you check for shorts! being stranded without tools or a new alternator is incredibly expensive and not timely at all to make a long story short.

tools needed to replace the alternator:

1/2 inch breaker bar to act as a belt tensioner
and wrench set (need to sizes, forget which they are)
and a flat head screw driver
 
#14
NastyStang113 said:
Yes, there are tons of bad alternators out there. A diode fails and ruins it. Ford has a redesigned alternator out but the part number does not superceed the old part number. So if you have Ford order a new alternator through the parts system you'll get the old one. So you'll need to look up the TSB to replace the alternator and get the new part number. Otherwise you'll be just replacing another one later down the road for the same issue.
Click to expand...



Apprec the heads up! :nice:
 
#16
well folks i just had mine repaired...a shop here in town did it for $100...car is back up and running just fine...i had it tested at advance the day i got it back and the charging system was fine...i have checked it 2 twice since then and still good...i saved a bunch of money by taking it off myself and just having it repaired instead...
 
#17
I fear this is the case with my new to me GT---got a check charging system code and the meter was reading low---radio turned off when I was pulling into work.

I have the extended 100k warranty so hopefully something can be done about it. It had said it a few days prior though have had no problems until again. On one prior occasion the car wouldn't crank though the starter had plenty of power however I am unsure if that is related or not since it only happened that once. Gotta hate dealing with the dealership though
 
#18
u are definitely in the same spot sir...my 2006 GT began the same way in the end...a few times it wouldn't crank and then it would...but the last night when it finally gave out i was driving and the radio shut off....from there i made it to a parking lot but when i tried to make it home...everything went out and i had to tow it...but for sure since you have the warranty, i would take it to them...but remember, my rebuild only cost me $100...dont let them tell u its not covered...good luck
 
#20
i wouldn't wait...i put off dealing with it until i was broke down in almost a "bad" area of town...luckily i am a cop and was in full uniform...otherwise i might have been fighting for my ride...go ahead and be proactive on it since you know what it is...
 
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