Alternator question
Thread Starter
Staging Lane
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 83
Likes: 0
From: Salisbury, MD
Alternator question Alright guys, I have a question for you. It has to deal with my 03 malibu and the alt. Everytime I hit the brakes at night, all my lights dim, but barely and not even for a second. Even though they barely dim, you can still notice it. So here's the story behind it... about January of 2008, we had to replace the belt, no big deal. I went to my local Chevy dealership and got a belt. Well, we put on the belt and at first everything was fine, then the more we drove it that night, we noticed my lights were dimming very low. So we took it to a shop and one we've taken our cars to for years, so they could look at it. (Here's where it gets a little odd...) That Friday, they looked at it and said it was fine. Well it stayed there over the weekend and some how on Monday, it needed a new alt. So a rebuilt alt was put in. Well ever since, my lights have dimmed like I said at the beginning, we replaced that belt because it was too small! 
And while we were replacing that belt, the tensioner snapped! 
So we put a heavy duty tensioner and the battery is pretty new so I just wanna know what you guys think.
And while we were replacing that belt, the tensioner snapped! So we put a heavy duty tensioner and the battery is pretty new so I just wanna know what you guys think. 
TECH Addict
Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 2,012
Likes: 0
From: Tulsa, OK
Rebuilds are done by little gnomes with flat foreheads and no necks, who breathe constantly through their mouths and fart alot. This is done in Lower Slobovia, weekly, but only on the second Tuesday each week in a 30 minute stretch. The next day is devoted to water pumps. Any QC tags you see are there because the inspector could indeed tell it was an alternator. You get the idea.
Last edited by fleetmgr; Sep 18, 2009 at 01:18 PM.
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As I said in another thread a while back...you've just discovered the reason I only buy brand new ones.
Rebuilds are done by little gnomes with flat foreheads and no necks, who breathe constantly through their mouths and fart alot. This is done in Lower Slobovia, weekly, but only on the second Tuesday each week in a 30 minute stretch. The next day is devoted to water pumps. Any QC tags you see are there because the inspector could indeed tell it was an alternator. You get the idea.
Rebuilds are done by little gnomes with flat foreheads and no necks, who breathe constantly through their mouths and fart alot. This is done in Lower Slobovia, weekly, but only on the second Tuesday each week in a 30 minute stretch. The next day is devoted to water pumps. Any QC tags you see are there because the inspector could indeed tell it was an alternator. You get the idea.
But quality rebuilding is out there. It's just tough to find it consistently.
A new item doesn't mean it's good. At least with a rebuilt unit you're getting an O.E. casting to work with. Some of the far east knock offs are far worse than rebuilt.
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Verdad Gallardo Thread Starter
Staging Lane
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 83
Likes: 0
From: Salisbury, MD
its kinda weird because its not as noticeable as it use to be, everything is hooked up correctly and everything is on tight and secure, do you think there could be a lose ground or something somewhere?
Thread Starter
Staging Lane
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 83
Likes: 0
From: Salisbury, MD
nope, no codes. this car has been great to be completely honest. over 94,xxx miles and all we've had to replace were the fuel pump, alt, and ignition switch. other than that, it's been a damn good car.