nativenyerintexas

I bought my 2004 Stang (3.9 liter V-6)in April 2010 and since then I drove it about 18,000 miles (79,000 miles total on the car) but during the past two years I had to replace the alternator three times. Yesterday was the first time it broke down on me and I needed a jump start. The first one I had to replace was about three weeks after I bought the car and found out it had a lifetime warranty alternator from O'Rielly's so I haven't had to actually buy one. The first time I didn't remember how to change one since it's been about 3,000 years since I swapped out an alternator but when my mechanic friend changed it in less than 10 minutes and charged me $50 I thought I could do it myself, which I did back in October when it crapped out the second time. Yesterday I got the car to an O'Rielly's and the guy checked it out and said the alternator was perfect and so was the battery but I couldn't believe that so I called my mechanic friend again and he came down, ripped it out, took it in the store so they can test it IN the store and low and behold, it was bad. He charged me another $45 this time for the service call.

Now for my question: Why am I having to keep swapping alternators? Are O'Reilly's alternators that bad or am I having another issue that's causing them to go bad? Everything works fine in the car other than the alternator keeps crapping out. I know how to check the charging system and even keep a decent volt meter in my tool box in the trunk. What's the deal here? Do other people have the same issues?

Matt's 95 Stang

I have an O'Reilly's alt right now as my crappy Sears battery ate my last Motorcraft alt and I havent had a problem with it. You might just have really bad luck. Our alt. are also VERY easy to remove. 3 bolts, 1 wire, and 1 nut and its off. Buy a manual for 15 bucks and it will teach you have to do basic things. Save alot of money in the future.

Matthew

cbrysoncarter

I had replaced my alternator first with one from O'Reilly's and it crapped out about 3 months later. I then ordered one off of American Muscle to replace it. Its real easy to change yourself, as long as you got a breaker bar or long socket driver to release the belt tensioner. Very simple process, and yes the book/file of the Haynes manual is always a good thing to have. For under $20 its a great investment.

Do you have any additional strain on your electrical system, like a stereo system? I used to run a 6000w system that taxed the electrical to death. I went through 3 alternators before switching to a h.o. alternator on my old car.

mustangman02232

and this is why there are certain things that I never use anything other then MOTORCRAFT for, alternators are one of them.

I would however check the connections on all the cables when you get a chance

nativenyerintexas

For those above that got the impression I couldn't replace the alternator... I did it myself the second time. It took me about a half hour because the last one I did wasn't a uni-belt design. Every pulley on the engine had a different belt so it took me a few minutes to figure out where the belt tensioner was and how it worked. Once I got it off, it was easy peasy. The reason I called my mechanic was the guy at O'Rielly's said it wasn't the alternator or the battery and it was something else. Fearing I would get stuck on the highway going home due to lack of a good charge on the battery I thought it best to call my mechanic buddy. I was already into him for a service call so I guess he just took it upon himself to take out the alternator. I could have done it myself had the O'Rielly guy said it was bad. I had all the tools in my truck except for the tool to relieve tension on the belt but O'Rielly's rents them so I wasn't worried about that. Next time it breaks down, I just might try another brand of alternator.... maybe the high performance high output PA from American Muscle.

indisposible_teens

I just put a new alt on my car. It was being nasty with me and I finally said enough! Actually she said enough and just died as I was flooring her to try and get into a parking spot at Wal-Mart so it wouldn't get towed. With it floored and the alt out it was going all of 10mph. lol

Daehawk

I'd ge ta new battery and rebuild the alt. I did that and i kept having a charge drain. Like sitting one day the car was fine. Sit 2 days it it would crank slow. If it sat 3 days it was dead. brand new battery. Could not find a drain. After 6 months or so it got to where just turning it off it was dead. Come to find out that new battery had a bad cell in it and was the problem the whole time not the alt.

So I'd ge ta fresh battery and rebuild the alt.

nativenyerintexas

Dude, did you actually read my whole post? The battery is new as of October 2011. The battery was checked by three different people and it was perfect. How else can one check a battery other than by using a different battery tester by three different people?

mustangman02232

you can have a short or issue inside the battery and still have it test good and be bad, the only way you will know is replacing it

do not use anything but a motorcraft alternator next time and make sure all the connections for power/ground are clean

Chromeshadow

It's possible but very rare, especially with newer batteries. For this to happen the lead inside the battery has to flake off enough to cause a short inside the battery. It can be intermittent...where it shorts when you hit a bump. All new OEM alternators are designed to survive if this happens. You might ask them to replace the alternator with a better one to compensate for the hassle of replacing it.