My factory alternator just went about 2 months ago, after 5 years of use. I decided to go the cheap route and bought an Autozone special with the lifetime warranty. Anyways I just finished replacing the fourth alternator since my oem went out. I've checked the battery and it's still good do you guys think that the alternators from Autozone just don't last that long or what? These alternators seem to last me anywhere from 2-3 weeks .
Any help greatly appreciated..

 

"You get what you pay for." My friend had a ford work truck, like clockwork - every 4-6 weeks it needed an AZ alternator replaced. He finally broke down and bought a genuine motorcraft replacement. That one was still going after 2 years when he sold the truck. I suggest you cut your losses and buy a genuine AC Delco part.

 

I can give ya the link to the guy who just built mine(non sponsor)...its a nice peice and I have nothing but good things to say about the company.

 

dont feel too bad man, i just posted the same thing about the auto zones alternators. i am on my 3rd right now with the lifetime warrenty, the last one lasted 2 days and just crapped out on me today. I did some searching and IROC is right about the AC delco brand....many people sware by them....time to go to the dealer

 

Thanks. I guess it's time to go by an oem alternator...

 

I've had the same experience on my past gm vehicles. I guess you get what you pay for.

 

You can get an AC Delco from advance. I got a hookup here in town for OEM delco remy alternators also.

 

id go to a local shop and have it built there. its not like youre getting a better casing or anything else with a delco...prob better internal parts than the autozone piece, but a shop can build it however you want. a place by me built me a 200 amp alt for the Z for $200 bucks, dollar an amp is not bad and all the parts in it are better than stock.

on a seperate note, i have a 96 saturn and i got an autozone alt for it (i dont care for murrays, theyre ********), and i changed it all out, and it went bad after about 30 minutes of driving. id suggest a test before buying any new alt anywhere, jsut so you doont have to do the same damn job twice...

 

i bought a few thing from autozone that were DOA, or soon to be, including a starter.

 

What kind of problems did you guys notice before it went out ? Low voltage ? (Smilar to what a guy in another thread has) I am having a very similar problems with the voltage dropping the longer I drive. I am on my 2nd alt. this year from CarQuest, and it's not cutting it.

Dealership alternator may be soloution.

'J