Just replaced my '98 'burb's alternator for the third time.
My experience is that an alternator is good for about 60,000 miles.
Does this sound like a good rule of thumb?
If so, the next one's going to be a premptive replacement 50k miles from now.
----------------------- PeteCresswell
Not in my book.. I've never had to replace an alternator before 85K on any of my vehicles. Maybe I've been lucky..
That's probably a good rule of thumb for a water pump though... That or
70K.Ben
You got lucky. CS-130's don't last that long. CS-130D's last just about that long. BTW, Was it a diode failure? Hope you got a decent rebuild.
Cheers
Many times the brushes wear out. Try just replacing them for $5 or so.
Local rebuilder.
RE/
Don't know enough to say.
The diagnostic machine said "Low Output" on this one.
Was 400 miles from home and it was July 3rd - so I didn't shop around. Connected the spare battery I always carry, nursed it to a NAPA store about 40 miles away, took what they had (rebuild) and got a guy down the street to install it.
Got back to the place I was staying at with a total elapsed time of 4 hours. A lot better than the 4 days I was anticipating...
The 60k figure I blurted out came from a combination of what the NAPA guy said ( "about 65,000 miles") and my own experiences.
----------------------- PeteCresswell
RE/
Maybe I'll start carrying one too.
How hard is it to replace in the field? Seems like the main problem on a Vortec 5.7 would be the serpentine belt.
----------------------- PeteCresswell
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