Question - what would you do? - Alternator/Core (1 Viewer)

[CharlieS]

I recently changed out my alternator for a Toyota Reman. Turns out, the one I removed was working fine (the sound I was hearing was the power steering gears).

The replacement had a $75 core charge, plus I'd need to pay to ship it, let's say $20 for argument's sake.

My what would you do question is - would you keep it as a spare (possibly throwing in some new brushes) or send it back and get your core deposit?

One part of me thinks keeping it is a good idea, since I have a known good alternator in hand that only "costs" me $75. I doubt I could buy a spare of eBay for that.

The other part of me says the rebuilt units are readily available for under $200 from discount parts sites, so why hang on to a part I don't need right away.

For whatever it is worth, I have plenty of shop space/storage to put it on a shelf for a rainy day, and $75 is not a lot of money in the scheme of things.

This isn't a big deal question, I can and will make a decision on my own. I'm just curious what you'd do?

 

[family80]

I would put the original back in and put the new alt on the shelf. My reasoning is your original has “miles” on it and the new does not. In my opinion I would keep the fresh one as a back up until I actually needed it.

 

[LandLocked93]

If your rig is a daily, I would keep the original as a spare and run the new one.
If the new one turns out to be junk, you'd rather suss that out when around town and not trail side, 100 miles from anywhere.

 

[LockedCollector]

I would consider the logic in the first response but laziness would put me with the second response….but definitely would keep it.

 

[LandLocked93]

I would consider the logic in the first response but laziness would put me with the second response….but definitely would keep it.

Lol.
I'd rather know my spare was definitely good.

edit:case in point, I replaced a starter thinking the vintage unit had finally passed. Installed the newer unit and the original issue remained. Determined the issue was something else and resolved it, but kept the newer installed and made the vintage a trail spare. Should the newer go tits up, I know I'll get home on the vintage unit. It's just how you want to couch it, I guess.

 

[DivByZero]

A lot of this depends on how long you see yourself driving your 80. If you see yourself wanting it 10+ years from now, you should be banking parts for the future. Keep it.

 

[davidp14]

If any parts from your 80 are even close to salvageable you should keep them.

When I replaced my alternator I rebuilt the original and now it's my spare.

 

[gummycarbs]

If the one you took off is the original unit from Toyota, then 100% keep it. If it's a rebuilt, then whatever. Rebuilding an alternator is pretty easy until you get into bad windings or slip rings.