StangStL

Hey guys,

I hope I'm posting in the right thread. I have a few questions regarding an issue I've had with my battery / alternator. About a month ago, the battery light on my dash came on, and my alternator tested bad. So, I went to O'Reiley's (I figured their parts were better than AutoZone... Not sure if that's true or not) as I needed the car to get to work the next day and bought a re-manufactured alternator.

Fast forward a month of excessive heat and humidity, a bit of AC use (not a lot considering the temperatures, but I add that information in case it applies), and the battery light came back. I went to O'Reiley's in a bit of a foul mood and the battery -and- alternator tested bad. So, I bought a new battery and cashed in the warranty on the alternator for a new one. I'm up and running again, but I would prefer to have these parts last at least a couple of years and not die every month.

Is there something I need to check, or is this typical? I work in IT and don't claim to know much about cars, but my initial assumption was that my battery has been bad all along and ended up killing both alternators. I don't have an amp, and other than an iPhone charger that I leave plugged in, nothing comes to mind that could constantly drain the battery and add stress to the alternator.

Thanks for any input and advice. If the parts from O'Reiley's are just crap I don't mind scrapping my $200.00 investment in the alternator for a much better version. I'm going to just start hauling tools in the trunk -- I could probably change out the alternator in their parking lot at this point. x_x

03shadow

could just be a bad alternator, ive seen brand new ones work only a month before they crap out. i wouldnt worry too much about it at this point if you dont have anything that puts too much stress on the charging system. if something does happen then id suspect a bad wire or something somewhere. welcome to the forums!

nettekdl

The problem is the O'reilly alternator, they're garbage. Buying their highest end one i had to turn it in for warranty three times in a month, the duralast from autozone is a much better product.

03shadow

id go to napa before autozone

Matt's 95 Stang

^Mine less than 6 month old battery from Napa killed my less than 1 year old battery....

Matthew

03shadow

lol it has a warranty though? napa stuff usually does

7gtthrilla

when it comes to the alternator, I'd skip napa, autozone, and o'reilly and just go to ford. It might be more costly but usually they stand behind their product especially if it happens again within a months time. I had to replace mine a year and a half ago and i haven't had any problems since.

mustangman02232

car quest, is better then any, but id +1 a ford one, maybe you can get lucky and find someone that rebuilds one in your area

StangStL

Thanks for all the information, it definitely helps. I'll probably avoid O'Reiley's from now on -- but so far it's running well. I may end up buying a Ford alternator if this one dies on me a second time. I'm just waiting to see how everything holds up.

Fink

dont put down a store b/c bad experience with an alternator/starter/whatever.

Ive seen alternators failed right out of the box, same with starters. FROM DIFFERENT MANUFACTURERS. Didnt matter if they were refurb or new.