Opinion needed - What to do with old OEM alternator? (1 Viewer)

[ScotyDosentKnow]

I left Sedona on my way back to Seattle last week and the battery light came on in Flagstaff roughly 1,400 miles from home. I assumed it was the alternator because the battery is only 7 months old. The only place that had an alternator in stock (Toyota included) was Auto Zone. Put in a new alternator and battery light was gone and all is good. Light has never come back and no electrical issues.

The funny part is the OEM alternator was tested at Auto Zone (several times) and tested good. There was a small amount of corosion on the ground post connection but it does have 240K miles on it. Should I turn it in for the $40 core charge? or is there a way to rebuild the OEM unit? If I can rebuild it for cheap its not really worth turning in the core. It spins freely but I do hear a small amount of what could be bearing noise.

Any opnions?

 

[Frogg420]

I had a local shop rebuild mine for a spare, and he beefed up the internals.

 

[darrenk]

Open it up and check the brushes. Could be they are just worn - easy cheap fix to have for a spare.
Otherwise do like mentioned above and take it to a local shop for a rebuild.

 

[Ouray19]

I lost an alternator 20 mi off the highway in the mountains last week. My alternator was only 3 years old. Turned out somehow my connectors had gotten fried and cooked my alternator. I just took my $40 from the core and called it a day.