[racinzak]

Well, I believe my alternator took a dump yesterday. I was coming home from Harbor Freight when I noticed my brake light and battery light were on, as well as the voltage had dropped. I drove it straight to Advanced where I had bought an battery a couple of months ago. Hooked it up to the machine and no charging. Got 12.3 volts with the motor off, 11.5 with the motor running, not detecting amps at all.

I checked all the fuses and fusible links that I could find. I put a voltmeter directly on the alternator stud to check for voltage, just got the same volts as the battery. I checked the fusible link inline from the alt. to the batt. Anyone know of anything else to check???

I got a used alternator for $63.00 coming from a junkyard, should be here Thurs. or Fri. I only have 67,000 mile on the truck...

 

[shenaniganZ]

Interesting, My truck has a little over 12,553 or so and every morning for the past few days the break and battery light flash.... Well good side I'm pretty sure I know it's the alternator now. So should it be covered on my warranty by any chance?

 

[racinzak]

should be covered, but clean the ever loving crap out of your truck before you take it in so they won't say you sunk it and caused the damage.

 

[dubie2003]

The alternator is a pain in our trucks. Its down low so it may be easier to work from below and thru the fender well. If you go thru some deep water or mud, it gets caked up and fails (mainly the bearings first thou).

If you are within the 3yr/36k limit, you can take it in but I would recommend that you clean down the truck first. Then spray down the motor and suspension to ensure that most of the dirt/mud is gone. If not, they may say that you caused the failure which you very well may have but still, its their crappy design.

 

[racinzak]

The alternator is a pain in our trucks. Its down low so it may be easier to work from below and thru the fender well. If you go thru some deep water or mud, it gets caked up and fails (mainly the bearings first thou).

If you are within the 3yr/36k limit, you can take it in but I would recommend that you clean down the truck first. Then spray down the motor and suspension to ensure that most of the dirt/mud is gone. If not, they may say that you caused the failure which you very well may have but still, its their crappy design.

Tell us something we don't know.. That being said, do you have any suggestions or ideas, as to what was asked in the original post??

 

[Sangster]

when you had it at Advanced Auto you should have had them test the alternator when they tested the battery?

 

[dubie2003]

Tell us something we don't know.. That being said, do you have any suggestions or ideas, as to what was asked in the original post??

You already tested everything that you could with it on the truck. Past that you need to remove it and take it to a shop to have it tested. Autozone or napa or etc... may also be able to test it but I am not sure if the ones in your area will.

You may find that the brushes have worn down to a point where they no longer make contact or heck, exist at all since they wore out and were ejected from the unit.

Since you already have a used replacement on its way, just replace your current one with that one and see what happens. If all is good, then you can just re-build your "bad" one and have a fully built spare for when your used one bites the bullet.

 

[chaz]

Since you already have a used replacement on its way, just replace your current one with that one and see what happens. If all is good, then you can just re-build your "bad" one and have a fully built spare for when your used one bites the bullet.
__________________
where are the kits for these,i know jc whitney had some before.
its real easy to do ,might like to have one on hand

 

[racinzak]

I pulled the old one off this morning. The brushes look fine. I did all the diagnostics that I could going through the service manual from page SC-25 through SC-35. It all come down to "replace alternator". So, hopefully I'll get the used alternator by Friday. I'm working 2nd shift this week and bumming a ride from a coworker. I'll have my wife take the alternator tomorrow to the Advance to have it checked out...

I do know the 07+ alternator looks different than the 05-06. I was looking at Harsh'es and Bwarren's pics from their alternator swap/rebuild and it appears that those alternators have the brushes internally. The 07's have the brushes externally in a separate housing that can be unbolted from the back of the alternator. However it appears you can't split the housing apart on the 07's because of the winding wires come up and outside the housing and are soldered on to a separate fixture that is also bolted on the back of the alternator. The only way to split the housing to replace bearings is to unsolder the 3 main winding wires...

 

[scuba91ta]

I wouldn't expect the issue to have been the brushes. 67k is nothing for wear. Likely an electronics issue. I hate where the alt. is places, couldn't be in a worse spot. Mine squeaks a bit and I've just been waiting for it to kick the bucket, since around 30k, but here i am @ 80k and it's been running strong...

 

[racinzak]

Alright, I got the alternator in yesterday while I was at work. I put it on this morning, everything works great. Not bad for $63... I'm going to try and find a rebuild kit for my old one now.