vs
Alternator OEM FORD or OEM BMW
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
I replaced the alternator on my Windstar last month. Disconnect the wires, remove 3 bolts and lift it out. Takes like 10 minutes or less.
Pros: easy to replace, takes 10 minutes
Vehicle:
Ford Windstar
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
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
My 540i at 141k started eating me alive, Alternator blew up
Cons: alternator failure
Vehicle:
BMW
Mileage: 141000 km
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
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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