Replacement alternator, Denso or other with lifetime warranty?

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flintknapper

flintknapper

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1999 Lexus LX470.

Wife's Daily Driver.

Not interested in doing a Sequoia Alternator upgrade (130/150 amp).

So.....just replace with a Denso 'remanufactured' (part # 210-0565) or look at other new/reman's with a lifetime guarantee?

Depending on where I purchase the alternator from...it looks like the warranty on the Denso is anywhere from 90 days to 1 year. Normally, this wouldn't concern me....but the alternator is not that much fun to install and I'm reading quite a few reviews on the Denso units failing within months of installation (could be for a variety of reasons, I understand).

My nephew just replaced his on a Tundra with a scant 60,000 miles on it. Conversely, my 80 series has the original alternator and is still going strong at 296K.

What say the MUD crowd? I like Denso products (mostly), but I had two (YES TWO) brand new A/C compressors lock up on me last summer before the third one finally worked. Don't want to run into the same thing with an alternator.
 
What is wrong with your alternator?
Most likely it is a bad brush kit ($23 at the dealer). once you get the brush kit installed, you are good for another 100K miles or so.

Do not use reman alternators. Here is why I say so.
My experience is with my 4afe 4 cylinder toyota
I had a reman unit (OEM was getting built). At idle with AC on the engine vibrates a lot. Got my OEM fixed and then installed it to the car. The vibration is gone. I compared the pulley diameter. The OEM is 1/4 inch bigger compared to the reman.

Stay with OEM alternator.
 
The lifetime warranty may be attractive, but do you really want to change out the alternator every couple of years because it's failed since it's inferior quality? There have been a few folks post here that they haven't had good luck with aftermarket alts.
 
I second changing the brush holder. Quick job and likely to be the problem.
 
nissanh said:
What is wrong with your alternator?
Most likely it is a bad brush kit ($23 at the dealer). once you get the brush kit installed, you are good for another 100K miles or so.
Click to expand...

Alternator has begun 'whining' recently. Is getting increasingly louder. Still charging (at this point). I have checked every other pulley/bearing that I can access on the engine and all seem to be fine. When I introduce an electrical 'load' to the system by turning on the headlights (high beam) the noise increases noticeably. The whining sound also increases with engine rpm (to a point), but with the vehicle in park and idling, you can hear the difference between the baseline whine and when I turn on the headlights (engine rpm remains the same).

This rather suggests an alternator that is getting ready to fail.

I will keep the original alternator and rebuild it. Usually its just the brushes, but the voltage regulator and diode pack and not hard to replace either. Bearings are probably good, but after I inspect it....I'll most likely replace all of those components. That way I'll have a good spare handy.
 
Trunk Monkey said:
The lifetime warranty may be attractive, but do you really want to change out the alternator every couple of years because it's failed since it's inferior quality? There have been a few folks post here that they haven't had good luck with aftermarket alts.
Click to expand...

^^^^^^^^^^ Agree (I suppose) but my thought on this is as follows:

I am not necessarily convinced a 'reman' Denso WILL give me good service beyond a couple of years. If it DOES, then yes....your point is well made. But IF it doesn't then I will in there changing it out anyway AND paying for a new one.

So I guess my concern is: Are remanufactured Denso's a 'crap shoot' (maybe you get a good one maybe you don't) as quite a few reviews suggest...or do the negative reviews simply represent a small (but vocal) group of customers with failed units.

Additionally, we don't know how many folks are even aware that the condition of your battery, cables and connectors have a LOT to do with how well your charging system works and how long it will last. This could be the source of early failure of a replacement alternator regardless the manufacturer.

My preference is for the Denso product but I believe they use a number of sources to 'remanufacture' their alternators.
 
I purchased a reman from Autozone. It didn't even last a year and when I took it back for a free replacement there were NONE available from their rebuilder (in Tijuana). They had to give me cash back. I went home and reinstalled the OEM unit that I had, in the meantime, replaced the brushes and cleaned up the armature. No more issues.
So......I say skip the reman and just repair yours yourself and be done with it. Very easy job. Plus, you'll know what's in there and be confident in it when you're done.
 
^^^
Yes, bearings go bad. Can find these on ebay for cheap, but stay with SKF, Nachi, Koyo, Timken

The sound is due to bad bearings. With the load (head lights on-Highbeam) the load is high and the bearings are under load.
 
I replaced mine with remanufactured Denso from dealer. Mine had 250k miles on it so just bit the bullet, figured she deserved it! So far so good a year later and hoping for another 200k miles! I've done the lifetime warranty on other vehicles and help my friends change them out all the time...
 
Here is what I have settled on:

Ultima R111106A - Alternator | O'Reilly Auto Parts

Each unit tested.
Limited Lifetime Warranty.
Nippondenso.

I will keep the original unit (after inspecting) and just rebuild it for a spare.

When buying a 'reman' alternator, shop around and look into the warranty offered. What I found was, depending upon who sold it....warranties varied from 90 days to limited lifetime.

Now, obviously you don't want to buy a cheap piece of 'junk' and have to USE that warranty. While replacing the alternator is not a terrible job, its not something you want to do every few months either.

So, look for a quality 'reman' with the longest warranty you can find. That way....IF the alternator does fail, you won't be paying for new one.

You'll be 'installing' a failed alternator either way, no getting around it, but if it comes down to that I don't want to add insult to injury by having to pay for another unit.
 
Be interesting to see the Dealer & O'Reilly Denso side by side. Will they be identical?
 
I think Oreilly is able to say "Denso" because the OEM units they are rebuilding are made by Denso. I don't believe Denso is rebuilding them for Oreilly.
Also, when I was shopping for a reman I checked with Oreilly and they did not have any available at the time. So just because they have it on the website doesn't mean you can actually get one from them.
 
badlander said:
I think Oreilly is able to say "Denso" because the OEM units they are rebuilding are made by Denso. I don't believe Denso is rebuilding them for Oreilly.
Also, when I was shopping for a reman I checked with Oreilly and they did not have any available at the time. So just because they have it on the website doesn't mean you can actually get one from them.
Click to expand...
So are you implying Dealer remanufactured are rebuilt by Denso and others like O'Reilly's are not?
 
My $0.02 on the replacement alternators.

I was in a major time pinch and went what was locally available to me, an Autozone Duralast reman'd unit. It appeared (i.e. casting marks) by all accounts to be a manufactured Denso unit. It had a lifetime warranty.So far there have zero issues and install was seamless.

Time will tell if it holds up and it is only about a 2-3hr project if it must be done again, altought I hope I don't need to do again anytime soon.
 
I haven't had to change my alt on my 100 yet, but for a few older cars I learned real quick that the remans sucked. I ended up having a local shop rebuild it, and never had a failure after that. If it's ever needed for my 100, I'll do the same.
 
For those that think they're getting a better reman alternator from Toyota, "Denso", etc. ... its all luck of the draw and placebo. There are a minimum # of parts that get replaced on the reman unit and/or the minimum that is required; no more; and zero way of knowing what components, beyond bearings & brushes, were replaced. And no idea what bearings were used, how much grease is in the bearing, etc.

Don't want to jinx meself but I've gotten 500% more life out of a lifetime guarantee O'Reilly alternator than I did my Toyota reman and it was 40% less $ to purchase.

Outside of a brand spanking new alternator (ditto for starters) its just a game of Russian Roulette. Better to take the lifetime warranty than a 1 year warranty IMO.
 
My feeling is to always rebuild my factory components with OEM parts when possible.

I've used remanufacture, in vehicles that installation is a 20 minute job or where parts are not available. What I've seen in some cases, are very good looking OEM components, others the are salt pitted trash or third party junk.
 
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