Guess I haven't worked on cars in nearly 25 years, but to me red lights
>need to be out. Figured they would have to assure the diodes are good
>before sending them out.
Well, there's your problem! ;-)
You Ass-U-Me that they would actually bench test them under real world conditions, but they just put in fresh brushes, spin them, full field them, and look for any signs of life - not necessarily the proper ones.
I've had bad days where I had to go through installing and connecting 4 "Sausage Factory" rebuilds from a regular Auto Parts Store to get one unit that actually worked.
Which is when I swore off going into Kragen for an alternator, and I go to a real rebuilding shop. Haven't had a bum one yet.
The 'Genuine Toyota Remanufactured' units will work right out of the box, but you will pay a lot more for the privilege.
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