tracyk

Potential Alternator replacement: remanned okay or should I chase down a new one? Necessary to be brand picky or no?

...2 days ago, voltmeter spiked to 19 (+ check gauges light) twice while driving and, both times, resumed normal position at 14. Has not happened since nor has xj acted up. Had alternator tested and was advised (without more info) that it was "bad." I'm not doubting the assessment really- interior lights always dim significantly when I put on headlights and I had to drive through a lot of really deep standing water during a storm last week...battery tested okay and not much more than a yr old

madmanmarty

I like to go with stock jeep manufactured remans.
Meaning a stock part that has been rebuilt.

dmill89

A Nippon-Denso (OE supplier) reman actually reman'ed by Nippon-Denso should be good but is also expensive (nearly the cost of a new one).


In general I would avoid reman alternators (especially "off-brands" or parts store brands), in most cases all the do is replace the brushes and clean them up (some replace the bearings too, but many do not if they are in spec.), and remans are often little better than what you might find in a junkyard.


My preference would be for a new Nippon-Denso alternator as a first choice, and a new Bosch alternator as a second choice. Remy/AC-Delco are now made in China for the most part and can be hit and miss (lack of QC) and most "off-brands"/parts store brand new alternators are Chinese as well and of less than spectacular quality (you may get a good one you or you may have to got through 2 or 3 bad ones to get one that lasts), but are still probably a better option than an "off-brand"/parts store brand reman.

DFlintstone

I gather WD-40 is the army's 40'th try at a Water Displacement product. "Stronger capillary action" or something like that. Btw it's a crappy lubricant.

Myself I might give it a good bath and see if it acts up again. Then I have spare cars and alts handy if it craps!

Your voltage regulator is in your PCM. Putting more voltage to the spinning rotor is what makes it work harder/up the volts.

How the PCM might talk to something in the Alt to apply that current to the rotor is beyond me. I doubt it handles the amperage for the rotor it's self, but it might. More than 1.5 and less than 5 or 6 amps I'd guess.

Just adding some in case it helps! Stay out of deep water!

TwistedWrench

Skip the parts store, and see if you have a local builder. In most cities you'll find at least one, here in SA I use Northern alternators, they reman alts, generators, electric motors, etc. This will typically get you a unit hand-built, ohm'ed out to a matched regulator instead of a cheaply done assembly line rebuild.

thatXJguy

My opinion is you should go to the junk yard and look at Dodge Durangos and try to find a 136 or 160 amp alternator. It's a direct swap with slight grinding. And you might want to upgrade main wiring too.

tracyk

Thanks all. Knowledge is king! I did find a remanned denso. Doesn't specify if remanned BY denso, but it did outline the reman process which allegedly includes bearing check and oem standard re- lube.
I appreciate "bathing" my current alt, but will prob err on side of caution and replace it but keep mine as emerg back-up ($30 loss when cost of shipping my core back is considered). DD work/mom-taxi so downtime = >$30 haha