Morning All. I seems that the alternator on my ride is bad. I saw a flicker on the cluster while driving out of the corner of my eye; but nothing to warrant undivided attention. Thought it was a bad battery, so I replaced it, as it was 5 - 7 years old, and the new battery got killed off. I have a new one coming as it was under warranty, so I can do a real test. The cheapest new OEM alt was like $513 + core + [ %^*%2@^%$&] fees. The dealer wants like 700 + core. I can get a 'new' Denso unit for like $490 shipped. The AutoZone reman unit is like $200. What say ye.... The Denso or the Autozone reman?

Considering the labor involved (1.8 Chilton, 1.7 Motor, and that's with a lift and power tools), I wouldn't trust a reman unless it had a personal approval from God.

Eh, alternators are pretty simple pieces of tech, and the expensive part is the core and its wiring which doesn't go bad for a lot longer. It's the other electronics and ferrite brushes inside that go bad and get replaced, as well as the bearings. All the stuff replaced is extremely common in a lot of industries and is widely available and reliable. I wouldn't sweat a reman from a reputable company at all. I put a remanufactured one on my car 4 years ago now and haven't had any problems with it. I got an AC Delco from Rock Auto for $180, and paid my local shop $60 for the installation. Granted prices have skyrocketed since then so it would be much higher now, but it is still a cheap reman unit from a known good OEM replacement company.

One thing I would do at the same time is to check your battery connections and make sure they remain nice and tight when you tighten them down. Mine started going bad a couple of years ago and needed replacing. This can also lead to the behavior of a bad alternator because it can't make a good connection to the battery and the rest of the car's systems. Check the entire length of cable to the alternator for signs of cracking insulation or corrosion, as well as all the major cable grounds in the engine bay. Replace cables if necessary due to cracking insulation.

Will do. Quick follow-up. Would it be worthwhile to try and test the alternator with a bad battery? Say using a multi-meter and testing at the leads to the battery and not on the battery posts? I may not get the new battery till the weekend, and wanted to to get the alt shipped if I needed it.