Alternator wont last

ONLYTONY

ONLYTONY

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I have a 95 MKVIII with 96,000 miles on it I have to change the alternator every 2 years or so. This time 1 yr 4 mos. New battery,clamps. Anybody have any ideas of what I could look for to solve this problem? It's driven daily about 20 miles, 50/50 street/highway. I've only had it 10 years,and I have at least another 10 to go, if I last that long. Greatest car I've ever owned.
 
I second dealing with max.

Also some Gen1s had a different alternator that was prove to problems. IIRC it has bolta on the front of the case holding the it together. If you have this style would suggest switching over to the other more typical Ford style alt.
 
My friend went through 5, count them 5 Autozone alternators in 1 year. I gave him a used one off a parts car and it has lasted 2 now lol...
 
Don't those box places just rebuild cores? Thought they might last longer than that... I know stay away from autozone because they use that duralast crap which is def isn't rebuilt from an original core. I have luck with advance autoparts.
 
I heard through the grape vine that those rebuilds are just a collection of parts.

They take all the cores and put something together from the best parts.
Now I dont know that as fact just got it from the rumour mill.

I dont doubt it...one time I went through 4 starters before I just started going to a rebuilder, but my local rebuilder did my mark amp. and it failed.
 
Its a Gen1 heat issue, to date I have murdered 20+ alts, in under a year.

I have shot my Alt after a semi hard drive and it gave me 273 degrees F. its a poor design from ford sitting in front of the intake they heat soak really bad, It doesnt if its new,used,reman, or the one Jesus had on his Mark VIII its going to fail everytime unless someone can figure out a way to keep them cool.

In my case Its the rotors exploding from the heat and Stator going out of round from the heat.
Which is also causing the diode bridge to fail and sometimes the regulator is being taken out as well.

I have an exssesive amperage alternator (390A) on the car and a spare in the trunk since I never know when its going to fail.

I have just accepted it as a design flaw and work around it the best I can.
 
mafioso said:
Its a Gen1 heat issue, to date I have murdered 20+ alts, in under a year.

I have shot my Alt after a semi hard drive and it gave me 273 degrees F. its a poor design from ford sitting in front of the intake they heat soak really bad, It doesnt if its new,used,reman, or the one Jesus had on his Mark VIII its going to fail everytime unless someone can figure out a way to keep them cool.

In my case Its the rotors exploding from the heat and Stator going out of round from the heat.
Which is also causing the diode bridge to fail and sometimes the regulator is being taken out as well.

I have an exssesive amperage alternator (390A) on the car and a spare in the trunk since I never know when its going to fail.

I have just accepted it as a design flaw and work around it the best I can.
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Are you drawing exta amps to run your bags or a amp ?
I use mine as a daily driver and since I put a AlT. in from Max I have never had problem.
 
Sort of, When the compressors kick on they draw ~180-200Amps for 30 seconds. that alone isnt enough to kill alternators the way I do.

Its heat that causes them to fail.
 
have you done a full field alternator test? My voltage regulator went bad on my 95 mark8. So I now got a life time warranty one from pep boys so far knock wood its ok. Also it takes only 30min to change it out. get a 1/2 drive for the tensioner, then some 10/12 sockets...
 
There is a good chances that if you have a failed alternator and don't put in a new battery at the same time you will take out the alternator again.
 
mafioso said:
Sort of, When the compressors kick on they draw ~180-200Amps for 30 seconds. that alone isnt enough to kill alternators the way I do.

Its heat that causes them to fail.
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I know its hot it sits on top like a baked potato....but like I said one form max will last mine did and I am not alone.
You must have some other issues causin then to crap out or you are still buying box store junk.
 
Try one from paperformance.com, they are all brand new units instead of rebuilds or remans.

Or just get a genuine Ford unit from Max.

I understand the heat issue, but I still have the original alternator on my GenI after 12 years and 180,000 miles (knocking on wood). There is something about rebuilds or remans that don't hold up to the heat as well as the original units did (thus the recommendation to use an OE one).
 
luxuryrules said:
Try one from paperformance.com, they are all brand new units instead of rebuilds or remans.

Or just get a genuine Ford unit from Max.

I understand the heat issue, but I still have the original alternator on my GenI after 12 years and 180,000 miles (knocking on wood). There is something about rebuilds or remans that don't hold up to the heat as well as the original units did (thus the recommendation to use an OE one).
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+1 on PAPerformance, I went through 4 from O'Reilly's before I wised up and got an alt from these guys.
 
hey guys,I have worked at AUTOZONE for eleven years.the problems you desribe are mostly missing other problems such weak battery or not at full charge when installed.AUTOZONE altenators are now remaned by REMEY which used to be DELCO REMEY and they still make oem parts for FORD and GENERAL MOTORS
 
I changed mine with an autozone alternator about 3 weeks ago. The battery had 12volts when I installed it and now only holds 13.4-13.7volts. It has been driving fine until tonight when it was breaking up really bad under load and throwing CEL's which I havn't scanned yet (could be unrelated). Did I toast the battery or is the new alternator no good?
 
foxlincoln said:
hey guys,I have worked at AUTOZONE for eleven years.the problems you desribe are mostly missing other problems such weak battery or not at full charge when installed.AUTOZONE altenators are now remaned by REMEY which used to be DELCO REMEY and they still make oem parts for FORD and GENERAL MOTORS
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Who are you a :q:q:q:qing vatozone pr rep???
 
ford nut said:
I know its hot it sits on top like a baked potato....but like I said one form max will last mine did and I am not alone.
You must have some other issues causin then to crap out or you are still buying box store junk.
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Yup I have plenty of "other" issues, The entire driveline has been moved up 1" helping trap heat. The pulley on the alternator is 0.5" smaller causing it to be overdriven to give me the amperage it does, There is no other way to get a massive amount of amps of a 3G alternator since Im limited by the cage the stator is in. Im looking into a way to move my accesories around and use a GM alternator since the stator is sandwitched between the cases. Prob make a bracket to put the P/S pump in place of the alt.

The alternator at engine idle is moving at about 1400 rpm. so anytime I bounce the motor off the rev limiter shifting its spinning in the 7500-8000 range.

So yes I do pay the price for higher output. I cannot complain I murder alternators afterall it is my fault.
 
Another vote for PA Performance. I run an overdrive pulley as well and they can and will over-rev the alternator if your shift points are high or you hit the rev limiter. Even a new one will only take so much abuse.

Be aware not all alternators at the dealer are new. They typically can be reman units unless specifically stated as NEW. You could argue a FLM reman is better than a generic parts house reman but your mileage may vary.
 
driller said:
Another vote for PA Performance. I run an overdrive pulley as well and they can and will over-rev the alternator if your shift points are high or you hit the rev limiter. Even a new one will only take so much abuse.

Be aware not all alternators at the dealer are new. They typically can be reman units unless specifically stated as NEW. You could argue a FLM reman is better than a generic parts house reman but your mileage may vary.
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Im certain the High RPM's do damage it since the rev limiter is at 6750. sometimes when I get on it in traffic it will bounce off and shift.
 
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