Another dead alternator on my 1999 Monty

[montero.life]

Hi,

My wife was driving our 1999 Montero home this evening and she noticed lights on the dash come on and the headlights getting dimmer. She called me and I asked her to look at the voltage meter on the radio and it read 9.6 and continued to drop. Luckily she wasn't too far from home and made it back before the car died. The last time this happened I replaced the alternator because it had the same combination of dash lights on. This is going to be the third alternator I put in. I have noticed this seems to happen every 6 to 12 months. Do you think there is something else I should check within the electrical system that causes this failure or are remanufactured alternators really that bad.

The last time I changed the alternator I also replaced the battery, starter and the negative battery wire. The truck has about 241,000 miles on it.

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[NatersXJ6]

That might be a case of “Don’t buy auto parts at a store that starts with a vowel”…

Are you doing anything to check out the dead one? Are the bearings going bad? Bad diodes? Broken connection inside?

What brand is it and where are you getting it from?

I remanufactured alternators for a couple of weeks as a college job. Untrained, unskilled, only swap parts that are really failed, no rebuild specs or QC, just test it and box it. If that shop was the standard, I’m amazed that every car isn’t dead once a year!

 

[nwoods]

I was a member of the Alternator a Month club for quite a while. I think I went through 5 or 6 of them on my 2002 Montero. I ended up taking mine (a Bosch at the time, if memory serves) to a local shop to have it hand rebuilt, and that seemed to last several years until my daughter killed the Monty. FWIW, the part that kept failing on mine was the regulator that controls the voltage output.

 

[montero.life]

Thanks for the replies. NatersXJ6, all of the alternators came from Autozone. I try not to buy from them as much as possible but when the first one went out they were the only ones that had a replacement in stock. However, I only had to buy one because every time I brought it in to get tested they say it was still under warranty so they would just swap it out with a new one.

nwoods, I was thinking of doing the same thing and have it rebuilt at a local shop if I can't find a quality replacement. How did you end up fixing the failing regulator? Did the shop have to rebuild your alternator with a more robust one?

 

[nwoods]

How did you end up fixing the failing regulator? Did the shop have to rebuild your alternator with a more robust one?

That is my assumption.

 

[normal_dave]

Passenger front camshaft seal?

I had more trouble with this issue on our Montero Sport 3.5L, not so much on the full size Montero's but still worth a look. Hard to see the evidence with the engine shut off. The oil will drip from the timing belt cover right down onto the Alternator in the Sport and over time it soils the electronics. I lost two units ordered from Mitsubishi before I learned this lesson and replaced the leaking cam seal on the front of the engine, behind the timing belt sprocket.

 

[ThundahBeagle]

Thanks for the replies. NatersXJ6, all of the alternators came from Autozone. I try not to buy from them as much as possible but when the first one went out they were the only ones that had a replacement in stock. However, I only had to buy one because every time I brought it in to get tested they say it was still under warranty so they would just swap it out with a new one.

nwoods, I was thinking of doing the same thing and have it rebuilt at a local shop if I can't find a quality replacement. How did you end up fixing the failing regulator? Did the shop have to rebuild your alternator with a more robust one?

AutoZone remanufactures to a point of failure just under warranty so they get you back in the store all the time. Who knows, you might buy wipers or floor mats or plug wires, or a Volt-Ohm meter while you're there waiting for your annual alternator swap. Saying nothing of the time spent replacing them all the time. And hey, if you buy thier brakes and other parts too, that increases thier door count on you.


Having said that, yeah, sometimes they are the only ones nearby with a reasonably priced part.

 

[MontySquareo]

So far I've had decent luck with O'Reilly's alternators, on a dodge truck.

 

[NatersXJ6]

Yeah, my 6.0 Powerstroke used to go every 18 months for its set of batteries replaced under the Duralast Gold warranty. It got a little old and I wished I would have just spent more on the first set!

 

[ThundahBeagle]

Yeah, my 6.0 Powerstroke used to go every 18 months for its set of batteries replaced under the Duralast Gold warranty. It got a little old and I wished I would have just spent more on the first set!

Die Hard is sold at Advance, I think. I bought my Die Hard a couple years ago. So far so good

 

[montero.life]

Passenger front camshaft seal?

I had more trouble with this issue on our Montero Sport 3.5L, not so much on the full size Montero's but still worth a look. Hard to see the evidence with the engine shut off. The oil will drip from the timing belt cover right down onto the Alternator in the Sport and over time it soils the electronics. I lost two units ordered from Mitsubishi before I learned this lesson and replaced the leaking cam seal on the front of the engine, behind the timing belt sprocket.

Cool. I will check that out.

I got my Bosch (re manufactured) alternator from Parts Geek on Monday and installed it yesterday. Everything is looking good again where the voltage is hovering 12.4 to 14.3. Only thing I need to do is loosen the belt just a little bit to get rid of the quick squeak on start up.

Thanks!

 

[montero.life]

I spoke too soon. Driving the car over the weekend all three indicator lights came on again and the voltage dropped down to the 11 range. Brought it to the local garage and they said that the Bosch alternator was defective. They said that they checked the electrical system and everything looked good. Let's see how long this next alternator lasts🤞

 

[icant4x4heretoo]

I spoke too soon. Driving the car over the weekend all three indicator lights came on again and the voltage dropped down to the 11 range. Brought it to the local garage and they said that the Bosch alternator was defective. They said that they checked the electrical system and everything looked good. Let's see how long this next alternator lasts🤞

I'm in same boat. I almost bought the the Bosch one. I guess I'll just have this one rebuilt. I'll be making some sort splash guard so that oil and dirt doesn't completely cake on the alternator.

 

[montero.life]

I'm in same boat. I almost bought the the Bosch one. I guess I'll just have this one rebuilt. I'll be making some sort splash guard so that oil and dirt doesn't completely cake on the alternator.

Did you end up making the splash guard? If you did would you be able to send some pics? My alternator died again on my way home from work last night. I would like to try putting a guard on it too and see if that helps it last a little longer than 2 months.

 

[JaSAn]

My 2¢:
Go on line to one of the good auto parts sites (RockAuto, Summit Racing, etc.) and find a list of new alternators.
- Then -
Order on line
- or -
Go to your favorite auto parts store and see if they can get one for you.

It sucks to have a vehicle you don't trust and your time and stress level is worth more than the price difference. I wouldn't mess with rebuilt again.