Alternator - OEM or aftermarket??

[C6H12O6]

I got stranded in the middle of Oregon with a dead alternator and dead battery. Sunday night, nobody open but O'Reiley's. I really have no faith in the crappy Everlast alternator I was pretty much forced to buy, and I hate driving around with the feeling of waiting for the other foot to fall, but so far, so good. $170, since I kept the OEM alternator core. I figure I'll run it until it dies, warranty it to get a new one to sell on eBay (or keep for a spare), and buy a Denso. No fun changing it out in the parking lot on a hot Sunday evening, and it sucks even more when you're driving around in the middle of nowhere hoping you can get to town before the battery dies. Buy good parts.

2020 Update: Everlast alternator is on the way out. Bearing noise is getting louder and louder first thing on a cold morning. Slowly fades as it warms up, but it's getting worse very quickly. Going to order the Denso alternator and swap it out on my terms. Honestly, this LPS rebuild lasted longer than I expected, but it still pisses me off. Now, to figure out if I send my OEM alternator back as a core, send the Everlast in as a core and just walk away from the "lifetime warranty" or just pay the core charge and swap the Everlast out for a new unit to sell off somewhere.

FWIW, I have a receipt from when I bought the truck that the alternator was replaced under warranty by Toyota before I got it. This will be alternator #4 going in next week.

 

[mrbigboy]

Little heads up, not sure if this is true or not...Was told today by Toyota of Carlsbad that the Toyota reman as well as new Toyota alternator for my 2000 LC were no longer in production and that there were zero new available in the country and only a handful of remanufactured. Stated they were both discontinued. Quote for special order of a reman out of Boston was $290 ish and it would take a week.
Good idea to hold on to those cores and get them rebuilt rather than letting go of the core for the deposits.

 

[Pyrenees]

Dude, you are preaching to the choir, at least with me, haha. After having an absolute nightmare both with my former BMW and Volvo "rebuilt" alternators, I will never EVER trade my OEM/original alternator core in, on any vehicle I own, until I die.

I'm in my 30's but sometimes I can be a stubborn old man and this is one of those examples. In my opinion, a remanufactured alternator is what you purchase when you have a failure on the road in order to get you home. When you get home, you find a person to properly rebuild your old alternator (bearings, diodes, voltage regulator, whatever) and you put it on your bench until the reman dies after six months. And then you swap the original one back in.

 

[94SRUNNER]

Dude, you are preaching to the choir, at least with me, haha. After having an absolute nightmare both with my former BMW and Volvo "rebuilt" alternators, I will never EVER trade my OEM/original alternator core in, on any vehicle I own, until I die.

I'm in my 30's but sometimes I can be a stubborn old man and this is one of those examples. In my opinion, a remanufactured alternator is what you purchase when you have a failure on the road in order to get you home. When you get home, you find a person to properly rebuild your old alternator (bearings, diodes, voltage regulator, whatever) and you put it on your bench until the reman dies after six months. And then you swap the original one back in.

Yes. Hang on to your OEM alternators and have them rebuild by an alternator shop. I have have very bad luck with auto parts store alternators.

 

[De La Cruiser]

Any experience with new WAI alternators here? Thinking about keeping the core and order from rock auto.

 

[Pyrenees]

Add me to the group of people who say NEVER get rid of your alternator core. I haven't done one on the LX, but I once had a BMW and had to go through four remanufactured alternators because they were all defective straight out of the box. To me, a remanufactured or off-brand alternator is a means of getting you around while you're waiting for a local shop to rebuild your quality original one. Then put it on the shelf for 6 months until the new reman alternator s***s the bed and swap it back in.

 

[spear2]

Last year, when the alternator on my LC '99 was going out (with loud whining bearings) at 260k, I bought a rebuilt one directly from Ace Alternators in Whittier, CA. They are one of the few family-owned alternator & starter rebuilding shops around. I am very happy with the item, and I only see good reviews about them on the internet.

Here's them on Facebook: Ace Alternators & Starters - Whittier, California - Automotive Parts Store | Facebook
I found them on eBay as the username ace_alternators

(Earlier I had rebuilt the Starter myself, but decided against rebuilding the alternator, as I don't have experience pulling bearings.)

Thanks for this info! I went to Ace last week. Spoke to the owner, Jesus, he been doing this for 30yrs...he knows his stuff. He explained how he always changes out the rectifier on ALL his rebuilds because you don't know if the diodes ate bad or not, no way to test them. He also explained that some alternators only have 3 diodes but the one I had is better because it has 6 (Tundra alternator I have). Also that my windings are the better type called 'hairpin' compared to the regular windings. Anyways, he said would take 3hrs to rebuild, $100, they called me in 1hr! BTW, he said this alternator can be upgraded to 160 amps for $35 more. This Tundra alternator is 130 amp stock.

 

[portage2forage]

Hey, need to replace an alternator on 2000 LX470.

It sounds like shops may be able to rebuild the original, is that the best route? I am not in a hurry.

If not the best route, where would you order from?

Thanks!

 

[oakback]

I don't know what the consensus is of this forum, but if I can get something rebuilt locally, I do it. My local shop happened to have what they needed in stock to rebuild my alt.

 

[aedgington]

Hey, need to replace an alternator on 2000 LX470.

It sounds like shops may be able to rebuild the original, is that the best route? I am not in a hurry.

If not the best route, where would you order from?

Thanks!

I replaced my 80 with the 120 version p/n 27060-50360-84

 

[AlpineAccess]

Depending where you are located, I have an 80amp OEM for a song

 

[cghall98]

I would like to join the ranks of OEM only and share my experience with aftermarket as a cautionary tale to anyone on the fence.

I bought my Land Cruiser in early 2020 (perfect timing- right before the market went crazy), and it is the first vehicle I have ever done any work on myself (now, I won’t let anyone else touch it). The first thing to go out was the alternator after a few months. It was the original Denso from the factory, and it had a great almost 14 year run.

I was in a pinch and didn’t really care about OEM versus aftermarket yet, so I went down the road to my nearest Autozone and got a Doesn’tlast, excuse me, Duralast alternator. I swapped it in and it worked, for about 3 months.

I think I got especially unlucky, because over the course of the next 2 years, I replaced the alternator 6 times! They kept me coming back with the free replacement, and I actually got very quick at replacing it. They would last anywhere from as long as 6 months, to being bad right from the get go.

It was during a rain storm in the winter, I was laying on my back in a puddle underneath the truck in 30° weather when I hit my low point. I finally had enough and joined the ranks of OEM only. I returned that alternator, got my free replacement, walked into a different Autozone, and returned it for cash, more than enough cash to cover the new Denso and have some left over for the troubles. The Autozone employees kept insisting that there was something wrong with my vehicle since the alternators kept going bad, I assured them there wasn’t.

Another thing I’ll add- the Autozone alternators run at a higher voltage than OEM Denso. My Denso is always dead on the money at 13.9V. The Autozone one ran 14.3-14.6V. Due to the over voltage and also the alternators not charging while driving multiple times, it killed my battery too. It was hit or miss whether I walked out to my Cruiser if it would start or if it would charge. It felt like owning a vehicle of a different brand entirely. And that’s not why we drive Cruisers.

How is it doing now? It’s been 1.5 years since I put the Denso in, and it has perfectly charged at 13.9V the entirety of the time. No grinding bearing, no lack of charging. I am validated that the issue in fact was not my vehicle. I also replaced the battery and it has been perfect ever since then.

And this is why I will never, ever use an aftermarket part for anything.

 

[IndroCruise]

I would like to join the ranks of OEM only and share my experience with aftermarket as a cautionary tale to anyone on the fence.

I bought my Land Cruiser in early 2020 (perfect timing- right before the market went crazy), and it is the first vehicle I have ever done any work on myself (now, I won’t let anyone else touch it). The first thing to go out was the alternator after a few months. It was the original Denso from the factory, and it had a great almost 14 year run.

I was in a pinch and didn’t really care about OEM versus aftermarket yet, so I went down the road to my nearest Autozone and got a Doesn’tlast, excuse me, Duralast alternator. I swapped it in and it worked, for about 3 months.

I think I got especially unlucky, because over the course of the next 2 years, I replaced the alternator 6 times! They kept me coming back with the free replacement, and I actually got very quick at replacing it. They would last anywhere from as long as 6 months, to being bad right from the get go.

It was during a rain storm in the winter, I was laying on my back in a puddle underneath the truck in 30° weather when I hit my low point. I finally had enough and joined the ranks of OEM only. I returned that alternator, got my free replacement, walked into a different Autozone, and returned it for cash, more than enough cash to cover the new Denso and have some left over for the troubles. The Autozone employees kept insisting that there was something wrong with my vehicle since the alternators kept going bad, I assured them there wasn’t.

Another thing I’ll add- the Autozone alternators run at a higher voltage than OEM Denso. My Denso is always dead on the money at 13.9V. The Autozone one ran 14.3-14.6V. Due to the over voltage and also the alternators not charging while driving multiple times, it killed my battery too. It was hit or miss whether I walked out to my Cruiser if it would start or if it would charge. It felt like owning a vehicle of a different brand entirely. And that’s not why we drive Cruisers.

How is it doing now? It’s been 1.5 years since I put the Denso in, and it has perfectly charged at 13.9V the entirety of the time. No grinding bearing, no lack of charging. I am validated that the issue in fact was not my vehicle. I also replaced the battery and it has been perfect ever since then.

And this is why I will never, ever use an aftermarket part for anything.

Depending on how much risk is acceptable, aftermarket is fine for anything that does not affect whether the vehicle goes or stops ....

 

[cghall98]

Depending on how much risk is acceptable, aftermarket is fine for anything that does not affect whether the vehicle goes or stops ....

I guess if your only goal is to not hurt anyone, then that is a fine calculation to make.

Some people also want to be able to drive their car and know it’ll make it, or not have to waste a couple hours every few months, unless of course they like life to be exciting or can’t handle the difference of maybe $80 up front.

But I would also count the alternator as something that’s involved with making the car go.

 

[IndroCruise]

I guess if your only goal is to not hurt anyone, then that is a fine calculation to make. Some people also want to be able to drive their car and know it’ll make it, or not have to waste a couple hours every few months, unless of course they like life to be exciting or can’t handle the difference of maybe $80 up front. But I would also count the alternator as something that’s involved with making the car go.

Amen to all of that. Likewise I am an OEM disciple for things which affect whether the vehicle goes or stops and happy to pay for the very conservative Toyota/Lexus engineering -- which certainly includes the alternator -- cannot go far without it and reliability is super important. I learnt the hard way -- and I should have seen the problem coming.

My failure to check over the vehicle properly before departure on a long trip in a convoy found me far from any town with warning lights and soon afterwards a dead instrument panel. The alternator had failed and the battery was almost drained. Luckily I did not stop the engine -- happily it is a 1HD-FTE turbodiesel so no spark ignition required, just needed the engine ECU and the brake accumulator to keep working!! Somehow we made it to the nearby small town (80 kilometres, about 50 miles) -- which had a small Toyota Dealership -- who pronounced the 13 years old original Denso alternator dead on arrival -- but had no alternators or regulators or even brushes in stock, so repair or replacement was not possible!! A correct new Denso could be shipped from the Toyota Australia distribution centre to the nearest major country town about 250 kilometres (~150 miles) away with nothing in between. So with vehicle battery recharged overnight and satphone and UHF radio all working (no cellphone coverage on this trip), we finally arrived at Mudgee Toyota, where all was fixed. The remaining battery charge was still reasonable, so maybe we could have gone further in search of better prices including aftermarket but I preferred the here-and-now certainty and Toyota reliability.

My critics said I should have checked before the trip (Yes, true!!), or, I should have carried a spare remanufactured alternator or at least a set of brushes and preferably the voltage regulator pack (No, preventative maintenance should have been done before the trip, not waiting until a roadside repair became necessary!!)

Maybe the old altrernator can be remanufactured -- but the insulation on the windings does not look great -- see pic -- and for reliability the better idea might be to replace again with another new Denso after say another 10 years. And no, an aftermarket or remanufactured unit does not satisfy my need for reliability on a long range trip.

 

[tahoejoe]

I bought a reman alt from rockauto. no core charge. working great so far.
kept and rebuilt the oem