alternator advice

[traintech86]

my 2 is in the shop and they seem to have fixed alot of stuff. all in all everything should be sound. the only thing is they said my alternator will need replacing/rebuilding. he gave me a quote of 160 for a meh one and he said they have a guy who rebuilds them for 185 and it would increase the amps 20. basicly he was sayin that the ones you buy are for the most part rebuilt anyways and its probly better just to rebuild the one i got. any advice on this would be great as i dun want to spend un needed monies.

[Jackstand Queen]

Rebuilts and Remanufactureds seem to burn out pretty quickly, especially is you rev the motor a lot. Seems like I put in 3 rebuilt/reman. Alts. over less than 75k miles.

I think the way to go would be a new Oem unit from a dealer for the long haul. But they cost twice as much.

[bassman54]

i've had a lot of success repairing toyota alternators. if the car has 150 to 200k miles on it and it won't charge the battery, it's usually the brushes that have worn out. replacing them will do the job about 90% of the time in my experience. the slip rings on the rotor will wear out but not as fast as the brushes, which are made of carbon. find an auto electric shop that sells alternator parts and they should be able to sell you the brushes with the brush holder for around $10.

if it is noisy or frozen it's not a simple job, bearings have to be pressed out etc.

good luck

[PumpMag]

If you get a reman one just make sure it's a name brand rebuilt from the factory. I just recently replaced mine from Pep Boys, it's Bosche Brand factory reman.

[Jackstand Queen]

I think it was always the bearing that went out on mine.

Bosche brand parts are darn good if you can get them.

That sounds like the best way to go, if you don't go OEM.

[nocashrider]

i also got a bosche from auto zone and its been runnin like a champ for the past couple of years and i think it was like $125-150 (brand new)

[traintech86]

i did the legwork before posting here and i found out that they have a bosche at advanced for 140 with 35 core charge. now to look into oem for comparison....

[Starlet 3SGTE]

I can sell you the parts and give a pictorial on how to install them if you'd like. Brushes, new regulator and rectifier(diodes) all for $40 or just the brush setup for $10. If you need a bearing I'll need a specs as Toyota liked using several different bearings. Email me for best results at tercelgts@comcast.net or send me a u2u on ToyotaNation.com as I check those very often. You can call if you'd like and have free long distance, (912)323-1378
Bill

[donnyavery]

i got mine rebuilt and i did a one wire convertion for 40$ total so and thats for my sc one There the same except the casing so i think someones tiring to rip you off because it came to like 25$ in parts from bosh if you wont ill try to find the parts boxes (for the part numbers) its not hard to do your self

[traintech86]

meh ty for lookin out, i just went to the auto store and bought a bosch. so much of this car has been thrashed on i don't want to rebuild alot of these parts. years down the road i will rebuild what i have put in but i just don't trust this guys wrenching skills or lack there of lol.

whats the 1 wire conversion?

[donnyavery]

your stock alternator has a plug with three wires the swap as it says turns it into one wire the one on the right has the stock three wire plug the left is my one wire its just a self exciting voltage regulator (right alt does not have the cover on it thats why it looks different)
http://www.mr2.com/forums/attachment...1&d=1252464318

[donnyavery]

heres a link that gets a little more into detail about it What is a self exciting alternator?

[espguitarist33]

hat are the pros and cons to this swap? i'm confused...it sounds like all cons

[traintech86]

i am not to sure i get it... ill probly just install it with 3 wires...

[donnyavery]

for you guys that are just fixing the problem you have nothing to gain real(cons) for the most part the (pros) the are for guys doing swaps and wire tucks the hole point to my answer was you can fix it for 40-50$ instead of 140-150$ my 40$ fix as been flawless for 2years and fixed some of the voltage problems the mr2s are known for

[espguitarist33]

I"m not fixing any problems..i was kinda threadjacking just a bit...i just wanted details about it...or just to even see what the gains are

[traintech86]

so then its just to have less wires, sounds like a good idea but right now i am more worried about my car running then less wires haha. ill def give that a lookin into once i get things settled! thanks for the post!

[donnyavery]

the pros for my build where just ease of my custom wiring i like to keep my wiring simple so i made my engine wiring harness so i got rid of all the vsv, unneeded sensors and my harness is about half the wire as the stock is and is stand alone to the rest of the car(and the wiring was tucked for that clean look)

[mr2tim]

Starlet's parts for $50 is the way to go (OEM per Jackstand). If your handy you can do it. Disassembly is a no brainer. Voltage regulator checkout on Page CH-5 BGB.

($270 S/C IC regulator can be swapped w Honda for $15. Dah!)

A rebuilder should charge $25/ hr and it takes 30 min.

If you pay more than $75 your getting ripped.

This is not brain surgery.

[traintech86]

well the bosch i bought says 100% new but i heard there were all refab. ill check it tomarrow