I'm having a problem with them....when my stock alternator took a dump, I went with the alternator from autozone (lifetime warranty). But in the last 6 months, I have gone thru 3 of them already? They seem to fail from vibration: when I did a burnout at the track, a big bump in the road, and then doing a fishtail on the street.
I dont know if its something with their alternators or maybe I got a wiring problem or what?
Any ideas?

 

Get a Pro-Start brand from Advance Auto or PepBoys. $149.00 Lifetime warranty.

I know people going on 5 years with no trouble. Mine is a couple months old and I have a 1,000 watt stereo amp, 427 stroker motor and its perfect.

 

Lots of people have lots of problems with AZ alternators, a search here will confirm this. They are sometimes defective right out of the box. I found a poll on here somewhere and the consensus was that an AC Delco was the best bet.

 

AC Delco is by far the #1 choice, they're just very expensive compared to the lifetime warranty Pro-Starts.

 

Now if only AC Delco could offer a lifetime warranty, right?

 

Autozone for BMW Z4 is a rebuilt Bosch alternator that probably has the brushes replaced but not the regulator where the brushes are installed. The rest of the wear part are replaced. The rebuild looks like a good quality but on mine the regulator was defective. After spending almost a year checking out all other systems at the prompting of the Autozone salesman I finally found the regulator to be defective. I bought a new regulator from NAPA and the problem was resolved.

If I had it to do over again I would buy a new Bosch alternator from NAPA. The time wasted would have made it much cheaper.

The regulator on the BMW/Bosch alternator must work with the DME (ECU) to work correctly. I don't think the Duralast testing checks for this. The problem only happened when the engine had been running about 30 minutes. I doubt their test took this time to warm up the alternator. It seemed to be het related.

 

other threads mention the gm truck alternator thats 140 or 145 amps ; i went with texas speeds mechman 150 amp alt. goodluck!

 

Here's a thread I made based on my past alternator experience, it's hit or miss with Autozone Duralast Alt's..

https://ls1tech.com/forums/general-m...-problems.html

 

I have a Duralast truck alternator..no issues with it.

 

I take my original ac delco units and send them to a local shop for a rebuild.I have been doing this on several gm cars I have owned thru the years and never have any problems
The auto parts ones are complete junk.

 

I see tons of alternators come into work, and have to swap due to lifetime warranty.. Guess its a hit or miss

 

The 1st remanufactured Alternator for my Honda Element failed right out the box,(Bad internal Regulator) even though it past the green light bench test. I am out 6 hrs of a hellish installation!!!

Return it and bought the Premium NEW alternator as I did not want to take any chances. It failed too, (bad internal Regulator)...Tested by Autozone staff both cases?

Go figure..I am going to buy a A/C Delco and pray it works...

 

As others have said, I'd stay away from remanufactured components from AZ.

 

Back when I worked at vatozone I saw probably 2 alternators get warrantied every day....Also mine was failing and when I pulled it, it was a duralast piece. I swapped it with a new AC Delco 2003 Escalade alternator. Hoping that lasts for a while. Although it probably won't work with the procharger I want.

 

I posted in here over 6 years ago.....my Pro-Start is still perfect. When it fails I go get a 100% free replacement, 15 minutes to swap it.

Nuff said....

.

 

Nice comparison. I've found Autozone to sell a lot of **** parts. Their brake rotors I've had terrible luck with and had spark plugs crack in half when trying to put them in. I'll only stop there if I have to now or to get things like a socket or oil filter.

 

BUT....do you really want to scimp on an important part like brake rotors.....

Why not buy NGK spark plugs....they cost $2.00 each. Perhaps the best spark plugs on planet earth.

Alternators, water pumps, sensors, plug wires, or anything with a LIFETIME warranty makes sense to buy from Advance Auto, PepBoys, Autozone, Bennett, NAPA.
All the part has to do is last a few years.....go get a brand new one under warranty.

People install brand new AC Delco parts and they fail in a week.......nature of the business.

.

 

Same here. I no longer shop at any particular store. I buy the brands that I want online.... I just have to wait a few days. AZ is good for oil, shop rags, oil dry ....etc.