I was very disappointed my Motorcraft alternator replaced at a Ford Dealership died after 4 years on my 99 Mustang six - however, they do have the two year warranty, and my understanding by my local dealer is that if the alternator fails during that 2 years you don't pay for the labor again, where if you had a different alternator put on from somewhere, they don't cover the labor.
Are all remanufactured Motorcraft alternators created equal?
- Thread starter DSB88GT
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Advanceauto has a form that the independent shop owner/manager fills out to cover labor on warranty parts.
Now bring your own parts and that's a different story.
Now bring your own parts and that's a different story.
That is great, never heard that - however, Autozone's DuraGold alternators I read terrible reviews - one of 4 in a row having bad voltage regulators - I don't care much about the warranty - I want to warranty to be an indicator of great quality parts used in the assembly of the alternator, and a great alternator that is very unlikely to break down prematurely - I think about some of the times our cars broke down - original Chrysler starter on 83 Reliant lasts over 100,000 - then several NAPA Crapa starters letting you down - once as they were picking up their dog who was recovering from anesthesia! Recently, on my Mustang I missed the call to take a friend to a hospital in extreme pain - when going down to pick her up, the car broke down - what if the alternator had failed going to take her to the hospital, when she was in extreme pain? I have actually been trying to research how many shops are there in my area - San Diego - that actually rebuild your own alternator or starter with good quality parts? And to try to research if needed, could I do that and make just a reasonable profit?
I do not know about the volume of business from specializing in automotive alternators, generators and starters in your location. The net could help you expand your reach once you get established as a specialist. The extremely closely related field of electric motors is certainly going to be getting a boost from electric vehicles, and their other uses are not going away.
The down side is there are mechanics, like at the last stealership I worked at, who rebuild rather than replace alternators and starters to cut down on repeat repairs.
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A quality alternator will be trouble-free for years. Get on RockAuto and have a new, not rebuilt, Motorcraft unit sent to your house and put it on. The alternative is to find a local alternator shop and have your unit rebuilt there, or, a PA Performance unit. Even better, get a used OEM alternator from a low mileage car in the junk yard.
The alternator is the easiest part to replace on your car. If you are not experienced this is the job to start with. Don't get caught up in the labor warrantee from a dealership, using basic hand tools this can be a 15 minute job in the driveway after you have done one or two.
Don't give too much weight to the parts store warrantee either. As you can tell by the reviews, many life-time warrantee's on parts are given to low quality parts sold by the retailers knowing that they won't last very long. The retailer will sell to a price point and judge their risk based on the number of returns vs sales compared to profitability. Many people don't keep a car long so it works out for them. Many of us on the forums keep long-term so look for the best part, not the best warrantee. My Dad provided a great example of this to me during all of my earlier years. He always bought Die-Hard life-time warrantee batteries from Sears for the family cars. We were regularly in Sears for several hours at a time waiting to have the battery checked, often several times in close succession before a manager could deem the battery bad so that it could be replaced under warrantee. We wasted so much time chasing a warrantee on crap parts just because it was the least expensive way at the time.
Driving a 20+ year old car as a daily will provide more opportunities for breakdowns. Usually it is simple things like an alternator, battery, water pump, or fuel pump. Learn to trouble shoot and replace those items yourself. It will provide satisfaction and familiarity with your car that you can get in no other way. There is a lot of support on this site to walk you thru the steps if needed.
