vs
Alternator OEM FORD or Duralast
I agree, alternator from autozone is not bad. I replaced mine with a Duralast and never had a problem so far.
Pros: no problem so far
The alternator I have on my 3.0 Ford Ranger does over 130 at idle and 300 at 2,000 engine RPM. It's the same size as factory, just custom built for $550 for the truck since I use it for car audio competition.
Pros: high output at idle
Cons: custom built, expensive
Vehicle:
Ford Ranger
Just sold mine to a friend... owned this one for 5 years, put 40+ thousand miles on it, and it needed nothing except for an alternator, and battery. It was a great car for me. Never let me down, drove, and sounded great...
Pros: drove and sounded great
Cons: needed alternator, battery
Vehicle:
Ford Contour
Mileage: 64373 km
We have an '05 ZX5. The alternator crapped out at about 45k miles. $50 part, did it myself. Otherwise, it's been flawless. 60k and counting.
Pros: flawless otherwise
Cons: alternator crapped out
Vehicle:
Ford Focus
Mileage: 72420 km
Got another Duralast/Autozone alternator in and this one seems to be working for now.
Pros: seems to be working
Vehicle:
Honda S2000
When I lived in walking distance of a 24-hour AutoZone, there seemed to be more people waiting in line to get their lifetime-warranted DuraLast alternators replaced than for battery replacements.
And while I dont recall Hyundai being one of them, there are certain make/models that need an OEM alternator or they just wont work right (i.e Duralast Alternator in a BMW X5=bad idea)
Cons: bad idea
Vehicle:
BMW X5
I had one during college... For a V6 it wasn't particularly quick and handled a lot bigger than it was. In three years it ate five alternators and the intake runner control box was notorious for failing (killing what little power it had).
Pros: sounded good with exhaust
Cons: ate five alternators
2 weeks ago, my 120amp Bosch crapped out on my '95 GLX. Decided the Duralast route wasn't a bad direction, being it's actually an OEM Bosch alternator, that Duralast performs the remanufacture on, with their own regulator, brushes, and bearings. It was also stated that they had numerous testing fazes performed after the rebuild. I had a 25% off coupon, and $40 in Autozone credit points. Walked out with the alternator for around $90, being the 120amp alternators are more expensive. Took care of the install, started it, power held, and she ran beautiful. Then a few minutes later, I started to hear a bearing scream. Was worried it was the alternator, as that was the only factor that changed, aside from disengaging the tensionar pulley and removing the serpentine belt during the alternator installation. 2 days later, cars sitting there warming up, hear the RPM's start to change, the gauge cluster display starts to dim, the door chime weakens out, and the car dies. Wouldn't you know, that Duralast alternator **** the bed with less than 10 miles on the rebuild.
Pros: OEM Bosch alternator
Cons: died within 10 miles
Mileage: 16 km
I had a Cougar (same underpinnings) and mine went through alternators like candy. I'm sure a better-designed aftermarket version would probably take care of it though.
Pros: better sounding V6s
Cons: alternators like candy
Vehicle:
Ford Cougar
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