99 Suburban, 56K miles, alternator question

The belt tension seems OK by your description, it's not supposed to be 'super tight'. Your alternator, on the other hand, is toast. Fortunately they are quite easy to replace.

Cheers - Jonathan

RE/

When that happened to mine, I thought it was the trannie.

If it hasn't failed yet, I'd replace it ASAP - because you are not going to like the failure mode...

----------------------- PeteCresswell

Sometimes an early failure is caused by jumping another car that had their own problems.

"Gregg Hartung" sez:

Yeah, I've gone through 2 of 'em and I have 91K on the clock. Just think, you're only about 20K miles away from a $2000 transmission overhaul not to mention all the other stuff that starts falling off when they get to be 5 yrs. old.

VLJ

thanx everyone for posting your info. I have lurked around this group for a while. It's been very helpful to me, (for maintaining my 99 burb).

What parts fall off after 5 years? My '90 Suburban has 173,000 miles on it and I haven't had that problem. I went through several rebuilt alternators in a short time but after I stopped buying them at Advance Auto, the problem stopped (I bought an AC Delco rebuilt). I've found the truck to be very reliable and I frequently use it for long trips. I found out a long time ago that when it comes to mechanical devices, preventative maintenance is better than waiting till it breaks. I used to work on aircraft and you just can't pull over if you have a breakdown when you're in the air so regular maintenance is a must (it's the same with any vehicle). Lest you think I spend a lot of time working on my vehicles - I don't. They usually get maintenance at a time and place of my choosing.

****************************************** I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than to those attending too small a degree of it. ~ Thomas Jefferson ~

"Rich B" sez:

In my case:

AC compressor died (4 yrs. - 49,000 mi.) intake manifold leak (4 yrs. - 53,000 mi.) first alternator (4 yrs. - 54,000 mi.) second alternator (4 yrs. - 62,000 mi.) exhaust cracked in half & fell off (4 yrs. - 64,000 mi.)

4L60E transmission died (5 yrs. - 71,000 mi.) ball joints replaced (my choice - bladders tore) brake vaccuum boost unit failed (6 yrs. - 91,000 mi.)

not to mention:

wiper control board recall outside electric rear-view mirror switch fire recall

Have I replaced everything that can break? I doubt it. I'm selling it after its replacement shows up in a month and hope the fuel pump module and/or the Eaton limited-slip diffy don't blow up before its somebody else's problem.

Mine is an import - "Hecho en Mexico".

Indeed. I currently wrench 8 motorcycles, 3 cars, 1 lawnmower, 1 generator,

1 weedwhacker and sundry bicycles and have been doing all my own mechanical work since 1968 so I know preventative maintenance.

This particular vehicle, '97 K1500 Suburban, has simply been substandard compared to all the rest the machines I've worked on. Nothing I've ever owned before has cost me over $5000 in repairs or had such poor design that contributed to those failures and repairs. This has my has been my first and certainly is my last GM vehicle.

VLJ

I'm happy to say that I haven't experienced the problems that you two have. Maybe it's because my truck had 87,000 miles on it when I bought it and maybe because it was owned by a surveying company (and it had the mud packed in the frame to prove it). But if it makes you feel any better, I worked with two guys that only bought foreign cars and one spent $10,000 on his Porsche in 4 years for repairs while the other one put two engines into an Acura in a little over 3 years. Neither of them abused their cars, they were just unlucky.

****************************************** I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than to those attending too small a degree of it. ~ Thomas Jefferson ~

RE/

This 'burb was my first new car and, I think, my last...

Used to sort of joke about the old card being mostly-debugged by the time I got them - just find out the immediate reason the peson was selling, fix it, and go...

Now I don't think there's something to it.

----------------------- PeteCresswell