Sweet82 Posted November 15, 2007 Share Posted November 15, 2007 How tough is it to rebuild an alternator? Ya, I guess that depends on whats wrong, but generally speaking, what's involved and where do you get parts? Before you say it, buying a $35 rebuilt one is not the correct answer! Thoughts and experience appreciated. Glenn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveT Posted November 16, 2007 Share Posted November 16, 2007 How tough is it to rebuild an alternator? I've replaced bearings, brushes, regulators, rectifier assemblies. I bought 1 used alternator in 20 years of running EA82s. Dissasembled 3 whole cars. Never bought any other alternator parts, just used what I need from the above list. I did buy the new bearings. One brush wears much faster than the other, and has been the most common fault I have experienced. I take the less worn brush from a doner alt., and put the longer one where the shorter one was. Of course, that doner alt. became the source for the other misc. items over time. Alternator & starter rebuild shops might have brushes that fit. 2 ways to get the big nut off the pully. Impact wrench - or remove the long thin screws, split the case. Clamp the rotor in a vise. Be a little careful about bending the poles, clamp with wood. You need abearing / gear puller and bearing splitter to get the bearings off. When assembling / pressing bearings back on, never put force on the opposite race. (inner vs outer) There is a small hole in the back cover near the brushes. You put a piece of stiff wire in from the outside, press each brush in, slide the wire past. This allows the cover to go back on without catching the brushes on the bearing or slip rings. Pull the wire out after the case screws are back in. If the slip rings need smoothing, clamp one of the front case ears in a vise, spin the rotor (use a drill w/a socket) and use wet/dry sand paper or fine files to clean up the slip rings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ginger48 Posted November 16, 2007 Share Posted November 16, 2007 NAPA has brushes for around $3-5.00/set. If you need a regulator, get it from Autozone - About $13.00. NAPA gets around $75.00 for their regulators. Regulators must be soldered in so you need soldering skills for that. If you've been into alternators before, they are all similar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ivantruckman Posted November 16, 2007 Share Posted November 16, 2007 anyone have a cheaper source for the rectifier Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cougar Posted November 16, 2007 Share Posted November 16, 2007 Before you say it, buying a $35 rebuilt one is not the correct answer! Thoughts and experience appreciated. Since you asked for it I will give you my two cents. I have rebuilt them before and find it is time consuming along with expensive to replace things like the rectifier bridge. If a person wants to get into learning about how to rebuild one and see how they are designed then I would say go ahead and get into it. If someone just wants to get the alternator working then they should be able to get a rebuilt one that has a warranty for a reasonable price. If something goes wrong with the repaired one after it is installed then the time and money they have spent on it is gone. If the rebuilt unit has a problem then you can at least get another unit with the warranty. I have purchased parts at a store that specializes in automotive electrical systems. Places like NAPA may have them also. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sweet82 Posted November 16, 2007 Author Share Posted November 16, 2007 This not a common Alt and can't be found at a junk yard or auto parts store. A new one is $230. Rebuilding it will cost $170. It was already professionally rebuilt just over 3yrs ago, and has had little use. No one warranties these for over a year. I'm looking at two approaches, rebuild/replace parts or swapping in a different unit and cussing till it fits right. I don't know much about rebuilding though? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mudduck Posted November 16, 2007 Share Posted November 16, 2007 What kind of alt are you trying to rebuild, or replace? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveT Posted November 17, 2007 Share Posted November 17, 2007 This not a common Alt and can't be found at a junk yard or auto parts store. It was already professionally rebuilt just over 3yrs ago, and has had little use. Ok, not a stock EA82. Are you sure it isn't a bad connection outside of the alternator? Due to low hours over 3 years, it may be dirty slip rings. Can you get it tested somewhere? Any details as to the failure mode? You want to try to narrow down what part is bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daeron Posted November 17, 2007 Share Posted November 17, 2007 what kind of engine, what alternator?? Give me a picture. There has GOT to be an easy substitution part; its JUST an alternator. Internal or external regulator? Give me a couple detailsm and I will help you figure out if there is an easy way around this or whether any substitution would be more pain than its worth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subaruguru Posted November 17, 2007 Share Posted November 17, 2007 what kind of engine, what alternator?? Give me a picture. There has GOT to be an easy substitution part; its JUST an alternator. Internal or external regulator? Give me a couple detailsm and I will help you figure out if there is an easy way around this or whether any substitution would be more pain than its worth. some how i knew you would be in this thread. well geez why dont you just puta maxima alt in it you just have to do this that and the other thing lol. Rob:cool: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sweet82 Posted November 18, 2007 Author Share Posted November 18, 2007 Heres the scoop. I finally had a good-old-boys shop test is and tell me what was wrong. Not just offer to rebuild it for $170 or sell me a new one for $200. The dealer wanted $230. It was the regulator, the alt was fine. I had them replace & install the reg for $49. This was by far my cheapest option. Why was this so pricey? http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/photos/showphoto.php?photo=17219&cat=500&ppuser=584 They rip you on parts for these Honerary Subarus:rolleyes: . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daeron Posted November 18, 2007 Share Posted November 18, 2007 so this was for a tractor? I still bet there is an alternator somewhere in the junkyard that you could have fit on, and then found new for under $200. All any alternator does is make electricity; the trickiest part is getting one that will bolt in and line up, and thats ALOT easier than is commonly thought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted November 18, 2007 Share Posted November 18, 2007 so this was for a tractor? I still bet there is an alternator somewhere in the junkyard that you could have fit on. That's probably not a good bet. John Deer does their own thing. They build their own engines and stuff - not like anything in the automotive industry really. It also might be somewhat different electrically - like maybe it doesn't use the GM remote sensor system. A lot of power equipment is heavily simplified in that respect. GD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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