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Alternator OEM FORD or GENERAL MOTORS
Reviews
If you have the V6 4.3 it's one of the more dependable motors GM ever made. The factory alt is rated at 105 amps. Should be enough for your needs.
Pros: dependable motor, enough amps
I have experienced my share of faulty Ford alternators from the chain stores. I now get OEM from Ford. Yes, they are expensive but I have better things to do than replace month old alternators constantly.
Pros: better than chain store alternators
Cons: expensive
Did they put in an OEM ford alternator? Fords switched to their “smart charging” system and its a little more complicated than your average alternator diagnosis.
Vehicle:
Ford
The Taurus alternator and 2 speed e-fan come to mind as the two most common parts that people pickup from junkyards and slap them on to their cars.
Pros: common junkyard part
Had the same issue with my -07 Volvo v50 (it has a ford engine). Swapped the alternator and the problem was gone.
Pros: problem was gone
Vehicle:
Volvo V50
Newer ford alternators essentially “talk” to the pcm. Cheap aftermarket alternators do not do well on these cars. Replace the alternator with a better quality alternator
Pros: better quality alternator
Cons: cheap aftermarket alternators
Vehicle:
Ford
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
Had an appetite for alternators, as they put it behind the rear cylinder head and tried to keep it cool with some little rubber/plastic air duct. Failboat. We sold the car with its third alternator, each failure attributed to failure of the rear bearings.
Cons: failure of rear bearings
Mileage: 140000 km
Oh yeah and it went through 2 maybe 3 alternators in the 13 years we had it lol.
Cons: alternators failed often
My mom had a 93 Lumina Euro sedan with the 3.8. The only real serious issue it had was a failed alternator which drained the battery and almost left me stranded one night because the headlights dimmed to the point of being unusable. Other than that, yes the alignment was poor and it had some bad brake wear and warping of the rotors.
Cons: poor alignment, bad brake wear
Vehicle:
Chevrolet Lumina
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