3rd Alternator in 2 1/2 Years??

[KallyI]

I headed out today pulling a car hauler trailer to pick up a car about 300 miles away. At about the 180 mile mark, the truck went into limp mode. I pulled over, shut the truck off, and the batteries were dead, so no go. The voltmeter had been sitting at about the 12 volt area for some time during the trip, but it has done this in the past with no problem.
After about an hour, I was able to get it going again, and limped in to the nearest town, about 8 miles in the direction I had come from. The alternator in the truck was a Napa replacment, last June. That one was a replacement for a Napa one from August, 2004. I have put about 20,000 miles on the truck since August 2004, and only about 7,000 since June last year. The last two have not cost me anything, but it still is an aggravation. The one I took out today had a lot of a black powdery substance coating the vents. The Napa dude tried to tell me that I probably had a dead short causing the failures. If this was so, wouldn't that be evident somehow, ie., other electrical problems?
Has anyone else had repeated alternator failures? The original alternator failed in 2001, and I had it rebuilt, but it never seemed to work as well as it had before, so when it failed again, I bought the first Napa one in 2004.
Just wondering what others alternator experience has been.

[gmctd]

That's not even good - get it replaced, take the truck down to 'zone and have them check the fresh replacement at full-load.

[Kennedy]

How old are your batteries?

I've never had good luck with parts house remans. I have a semi-local builder do my stuff. For the 94-5 stuff he builds me new stuff. For the 96 up, I have to say my 96 alternator never gave a lick of grief and I believe it's working fine for the present owner.

[damork]

I've had repeated failures with Delco and Napa alternators. The last time it happened was with a Delco and my truck had new batteries in it at the time (less than 6 months old). I put a Duralast Gold on it from Autozone and not only does it have a lifetime warranty for the original owner, it maintains better control of the voltage at idle. It wasn't cheap, but others in my family are running the same now and we think they are a much better option.

Here is a link to other options:

http://www.alternatorparts.com/cs130_&_cs130d_alt.htm

[KallyI]

That's not even good - get it replaced, take the truck down to 'zone and have them check the fresh replacement at full-load.

I would, but unfortunately, we don't have AutoZone here in Canada. I'll take it to a local auto electric place as soon as I have the time.


How old are your batteries?

I've never had good luck with parts house remans. I have a semi-local builder do my stuff. For the 94-5 stuff he builds me new stuff. For the 96 up, I have to say my 96 alternator never gave a lick of grief and I believe it's working fine for the present owner.

The batteries were new in February 2005; Interstates, 800 CCA, 1100 amps each. I had the original alternator rebuilt by a local auto electric shop that I had used before. The rebuild lasted 3 years. The original lasted 4 years. The 3 Naapa ones have not lasted as long, but cost me less.:confused:

[a5150nut]

How clean and tight are your battery cables and grounds? Had ma's Blazer in the shop and they left the positive cable loose. Burned the alternator out in no time but never showed signs of being loose until I tried pulling on the cable.

[KallyI]

How clean and tight are your battery cables and grounds? Had ma's Blazer in the shop and they left the positive cable loose. Burned the alternator out in no time but never showed signs of being loose until I tried pulling on the cable.

The cables and grounds are tight and clean. I put the Doctor's fix into use about 5 years ago on the battery cables. I haven't had the truck into a shop since 2003.

[oilburnertoo]

The only thing NAPA rebuilds are good for is to get you to the rebuilder to get a good one, starters or alternators I will never buy another NAPA rebuilt.

[CareyWeber]

I headed out today pulling a car hauler trailer to pick up a car about 300 miles away. At about the 180 mile mark, the truck went into limp mode. I pulled over, shut the truck off, and the batteries were dead, so no go. The voltmeter had been sitting at about the 12 volt area for some time during the trip, but it has done this in the past with no problem.
After about an hour, I was able to get it going again, and limped in to the nearest town, about 8 miles in the direction I had come from. The alternator in the truck was a Napa replacment, last June. That one was a replacement for a Napa one from August, 2004. I have put about 20,000 miles on the truck since August 2004, and only about 7,000 since June last year. The last two have not cost me anything, but it still is an aggravation. The one I took out today had a lot of a black powdery substance coating the vents. The Napa dude tried to tell me that I probably had a dead short causing the failures. If this was so, wouldn't that be evident somehow, ie., other electrical problems?
Has anyone else had repeated alternator failures? The original alternator failed in 2001, and I had it rebuilt, but it never seemed to work as well as it had before, so when it failed again, I bought the first Napa one in 2004.
Just wondering what others alternator experience has been.

KallyI,

I have had almost the same luck with alternators mine is a Napa Lifetime warranty version. I quit having problems when I replaced the cable from the alternator to the battery corrosion had gotten inside that cable. I had already replaced all my other battery cables with 1 gauge welding cable.

Make sure you clean both ends of each cable. ;)

Carey

[hockeyGTP]

I had the same problem before in my car. It was a short, I went through about 6 alternators in about a year. I didn't want to try and diagnose the issue but when the truck is running start moving cables around do you get a really rough idle then. When I moved the wire you would feel it really want to die. My guess would also be that you have a little short somewhere, maybe even inside the harness?

At this point I would get a new battery, and new alternator, or at least get them both tested before you buy.

[KallyI]

KallyI,

I have had almost the same luck with alternators mine is a Napa Lifetime warranty version. I quit having problems when I replaced the cable from the alternator to the battery corrosion had gotten inside that cable. I had already replaced all my other battery cables with 1 gauge welding cable.

Make sure you clean both ends of each cable. ;)

Carey

Great idea, I beleive I will do that!


I had the same problem before in my car. It was a short, I went through about 6 alternators in about a year. I didn't want to try and diagnose the issue but when the truck is running start moving cables around do you get a really rough idle then. When I moved the wire you would feel it really want to die. My guess would also be that you have a little short somewhere, maybe even inside the harness?

At this point I would get a new battery, and new alternator, or at least get them both tested before you buy.

I haven't tried moving any wires yet. I have an aftermarket remote car start system, and I am beginning to wonder if that might be the root cause somehow. I have heard of a lot of other folks having trouble with their remote car starters. I had to work all this weekend, and haven't been able to do anything to the truck, but Monday or Tuesday I will check out a number of things. The weather here has been great, so that won't be an excuse. ;)