@@bobgreene2892 my local Ace hardware store has the stack boxes, full of bolts and fasteners. They also carry carbon brushes. Then if you spin and dress your stator, install new brushes. Your all set. Most of the time.
,my uncle in cambodia always rebuild like u...because parts over there are so limited that u dont throw away like usa...save money and they even try to make parts for that device...off of scraps stuff...i was so suprise how creative people that fix solve problems...nice
There's a scrapyard not well known in my area that sells tested starters and alternators for $30-35 and gives you ten for your core. Their warranty is one year and is the best kept secret around here and even though it's an hour drive each way is where I go after calling for availability. They give free gas away too whether you buy something or not up to 20 gallons which is the secret.
I never thought about that, they probably get a lot of gas in the tanks of cars that come in, and would probably have to pay to dispose of the hazardous material.
Great idea to rebuild an alternator. I just learned that a new 175 Amp dealer alternator for my Lincoln Navigator is $1,000.00 here in Canada. A rebuild can be had for about $650.00 to $700.00 (CDN). We have one reputable alternator rebuilder in Toronto that does a quality rebuild for about a quarter of the new price, but they do have a turn-around time of 4 to 7 days, so you have to be willing to be without a vehicle for up to a week.
@@r3dhorse True, it is a premium vehicle, but I acquired mine used for a fraction of the new list price. It isn't just a high price for the badge name. I've realized the vehicle has a number of very high quality parts that exceed the quality of its' cousin, the Ford Expedition. The standard 175 Amp alternator is just one example of that.
Unless the bearing is severely worn or about to fall apart, you can prop it up so that the top surface of the bearing is level. Then clean any dirt off the seal with a clean rag. Next, put a few drops of motor oil on top of the bearing and rotate the bearing by hand for a minute or two. Keep the top of the bearing soaked with oil. If you rotate the bearing back & forth for a few minutes, some oil will usually seep down into the bearing. Unless the bearing is severely worn, it will usually run for a few more years. The thicker the oil you can get into it, the longer it will take to dry out again. If no oil will go down into the bearing, you can pry open the seal a little to get some to go inside the bearing. Damaging the seal is okay, just don't completely remove it. Don't get oil all over the inside of the alternator because dirt will stick to it and make the unit run hotter. Alternators hate that. I used this method on a dry idler pulley on my 2000 Ford Expedition serpentine belt. That was about 5 years ago. I have the new pulley, but am too lazy to install it. And the tensioner spring on that Ford belt is some strong. It is amazing that those bearings last as long as they do. Smart phone photos are good to have before you pull things apart. Free too.
All the wind, & background "scenery" , reminds me of the White Mountains in Arizona. I remember working on my property and would be working on a bench outdoors and the wind would revv up to 70 mph or so and pick up my table and tools and throw it all 20 or 30 feet or so. Ahhh, such fond memories.
That was a nice honest video. I really liked the trick he used welding the nuts to the bearings in order to get them off. A few suggestions always mark a line from one end of the alternator to the other before you do anything so that when you go to put it back together you will know the correct position the 2 ends should go back on. I would also check each diode to make sure they are all good and I would also check the coils to make sure none of them have a short to ground. Still, this was a very nice video.
if the coil was shorted, you'd have to re-wind it right? my alternator housing (case) was cracked. I haven't opened it up yet but I figured if the case is cracked it probably isn't even worth the rebuild. I am thinking about taking it apart just to learn. (it's what I do)
I used to love working at the local salvage yard. One of the perks of the job was free parts. Within reason obviously. I couldn't just take home stuff all willy nilly as I pleased, but if it was for my vehicle, it was free. I fully restored my 2000 Civic Si for nothing. Replacement engine, starter, alternator, steering pump, ac compressor, full interior, both doors, both bumpers, trunk lid, hood, headlights, tail lights, and wheels.
I had a '73 Peugeot 504 many years ago, and the brushes went out on the alternator. They are in a small plastic box that is held in by one screw. I disconnected the one wire on the box, removed the box and put 2 new brushes in it without removing the alternator. It was actually made to be easily repaired! The 2 brushes cost me $1.50 at an auto electric shop. So easy!
My dad bought a used 1966 Peugeot from a co worker that had four speeds on the column. I just remember how expensive parts were for that thing. It needed wheel cylinders and at the time wheel cylinders were going for 5 or 6 bucks for American cars. They wanted45 bucks for one wheel cylinder and you had to travel to find one. My dad didn't keep that car too long. Good comment.
My first car was a 1970 Puegeot 304. The first front wheel drive car imported to the USA. The manual transmission shared the engine oil. The engine mounted on top of the transmission.
@@mostlymoparih5682 There are some dirty tricks. Measure the diameter of the wheel cylinder. Find another on with the same diameter. Swap seals. One I heard about was the guy who figured out Chevy wheel bearings would work in his old Jaguar.
@@anonymike8280 Yeah some seals and bearing have a number on them and you can order them that way also. If we were not able to get the cylinders we were going to try and match up a wheel cylinder repair kit. Happy Motoring.
James, by your teaching style, you show that we can 'work around' and fix many things we previously would not dare. I bet your kids are GREAT problem solvers. God bless your family John 3:16
Recently the alternator in my F150 gave up in Gillette WY late Saturday . Monday was a holiday, and I had plans in Oakland CA that Monday nite. I bought a gas powered elect generator from harbor freight. It had 12 volt output that I wired to the battery. It got me where I needed to be
@@Dancing_Alone_wRentals thank you sir. It nearly ruined my marriage. As I recall the unit only put out 8 amps DC. The women could not understand why I would not let them turn on any accessories, or why we had to be in a hotel before dark, and had to be on the road by dawn. Try explaining ohms law to a wife that thinks your being mean and selfish.
Good diagnosis. Nippondenso engineers are the absolute best in my opinion. NDenso used on Toyota, Honda in 90's best ever. I was a rebuilder for 20yrs and never found one bad bearing, they are oversized. Even their starters have great bearings and metal gears instead of brass bushings. Of course today, more and more magnets and plastic gears. Funny watching some some channels taking the battery cable off when running..Don't!! That's a myth from the old 6V generator days.
A generator will not work with the battery out of the circuit. Had an old Ford Falcon way back when. It had a brown out at night. I was able to stop and tighten the battery terminal with the engine running. Fixed that. In the old days of points, ignition coils and relatively low output alternators, you could take off a battery terminal and the alternator would keep on going. In electronic vehicles with high output alternators, you risk a high voltage surge and damage to the computer or anything else with electronic circuitry in it. If you have to do it, maybe it would be a good idea to have the headlights, air conditioner and anything you can think of turned on to sink the possible spike in current. Better yet, just don't.
This put me back working with my dad in his shop. Bearings and brushes - and sometimes the Voltage Regulator - would fix any alternator not shorted or with the stator contacts or windings damaged. Same for starters and add (for GM) reversing the copper 'slug' contact in the solenoid - sometimes a re-rivet job on the slug spindle. Then back in the customer's car. Brushes cost less than a buck for a set and bearings usually $1-3 apiece depending on model. Even less for starter bushings. But always use the press, and some penetrating oil - too many damaged shafts and housings otherwise. You can get cheap presses to do the work these days, too. So many things we used to recondition or remanufacture - now they're mainly just throw-away bolt-ons.
This reminds me of when I rebuilt the carburetor on my wife's '79 Honda Civic on the dining room table at like 23 years old... Had no idea what I was doing, but I got it done right, lol. Nice video 👍 EDIT: btw, I was 23 - not the car, lol.
When I was a dealership mechanic back in the 80's and 90's, we would repair alternators, not replace them. The most common problem with GM alternators at that time was the diode/triode, pretty cheap part.
My 62 Belair had a generator. Replaced the brushes twice in 35 years - really easy. Bushings seem to last forever when you add a few drops of oil every oil change.
I'm old enough to remember when generators and starters usually had an oil fill port for the bushings... you just flipped up the little cap and inserted a drop or two before flipping the cap back down.
Usually Bearings are the most common failure except on new cars the decoupler pulley followed by either the Brushes or the voltage regulator. On very rare occasions the diodes go bad but in the thousands of Alternators I rebuilt only once I saw a winding burn up do to over currenting. I would have used the same method to install the front bearing too just a larger socket to drive the outer race of the bearing. Nice to see people that actually rebuild things it's becoming a lost art.
Alternator on my wife's 03 Accord stopped working at 160k. The brushes were shot, and it was dirty in there. One slip ring was very worn, and I filed it down. Bearings were good and regulator is built in to the brush mount, so that got replaced also. Replaced the brushes and it worked fine for 2 days. Then it stopped working and I guessed the diodes went bad. Ultimately replaced the alternator with an AZ unit. Too bad it was not brushes and bearings as is most common.
@@stevewolf2620 usually when a Diode goes bad it will cause a voltage drain when the car is off. might have been a bad connection on the voltage regulator or it went bad.
Man that was gratifying at the end. I also had the chance to rebuild stuff that you can probably easily buy at the store. I rebuilt 2 electric fan motors. All it needed was carbon brush and bearing replacement. Though one shaft was a bit worn, it should last me some years. I saved like 300 dollars on that rebuild.
Your dash voltmeter was working fine initially - the needle was on the thick line halfway between 9 & 14 volts, which is 11.5 volts. Close enough to the 11.6V from the plugin reader . . . when it was reading right at the beginning. Obviously when it dropped below 9V & reader was 11.3 that's a big difference . . . Thanks a lot for sharing this video, great to see how easy and cheap it is to fix an alternator. The last one I bought was AU$500 so even $50 for bearings and brushes would be way cheaper.
Totally awesome... A few hours of work and you saved yourself about $200.. ( Holy crap... It doesn't seem like it was that long ago when they were only $40)
💯, can also use a thick washer with a slightly bigger center, so it's easy to pop off after. Maybe put a nylon washer in between to eliminate any potential damage.
Great video. When I was young you could buy alternator brushes and bearings at any autoparts store. As the years went by you could no longer buy rebuild parts at all and a re-manufactured part was all that was available. It is so awesome to live in the age of the internet shopping and eBay where these parts are now available.
5:59 you can often use just a large washer and make a cut in one side. Then you can slip in under the bearing and since the washer is larger it often is enough distance so the bearing puller "claws" straighten out a bit and get smaller. Also you can avoid sometimes that the housing is very close to the bearing.
I always enjoy your videos and always learn something from you. You Sir are a man after my own heart, why spend money if you have the time talent and resources to do things yourself, a message that sounds clearly in all your videos. Your desert home shops and property is amazing and your recently acquired depleted silver mine property is like a private museum of creativity with an abundance of resources to make it happen. I worked in the field, fleet maintenance and now retired and honestly I must say you do things I and probably most like me haven’t ever done or live long enough to do.
Great video! I drive an '05 Dakota w/ 123,000. No charging issues yet, but I'll keep this in mind. We used to have a guy that did rebuilds in our area, but has since closed up shop.
Thanks. It's nice to watch a kindred spirit every now and then, we work in similar ways and have like mindedness in humor. Keep up the good, well, OK work.😎🤠
Getting ready to do this on my 2014 Buick Encore ...right after I just put a new head on it ....ugh ...lol. I looked RIGHT AT the alternator and said nawwww, it's good !! grrrrr ..lol. I'm MUCH to cheap to spend $250-300 on an alternator .... I'm 70 and should know better by now but NOOOOOOOOOO....it's good ...lol. My head lights are flickering at night and believe the alternator to be the culprit ...wish me luck !! Ebay is my best friend too !! Thanks for a great fun video with that REAL WORLD "ooops" in there as well !!
Good Job!, an alternative to struggling with removing the smaller bearing is to just use a very small screwdriver to remove the grease seal, then clean out the old grease and repack the bearing. Then replace the grease shield. If it spins smooth then you're OK for a while. Just saying' Mike
My Subaru alternator stopped alting. Like you, I thought it would be easy to fix. After I took the case apart, I bought a new alternator. They aren't made like they used to be.
I do believe it’s good to know these things to be a good mechanic and I personally have rebuilt many things but I found out long ago that when you buy auto parts at the neighborhood stores, they generally come with a lifetime warranty. All you need to do is keep the vehicle. My 97 blazer has 450k on it and I always get new alternators, brakes, radiators, water pumps, wiper and window motors and more miscellaneous parts. Just saying to keep track of your part purchases. It really save cash too. Thanks for the video..
@@richardeldridge6522 They keep it in the computer and track it with the phone number you give them. Sometimes they can look you up with an email, street address or even (get this) your name. Probably a good idea to save a scan of the receipt, but good chance if they don't find you in the computer, they won't honor the warranty. The parts chains also issue loyalty cards. Good idea to make a scan of that too.
Great idea! I like the idea of welding two nuts to the bearing to get it out. One idea to push out the rod where the brushes make contact is to put a thick piece of wood over it and then hit with a metal hammer. That way the wood deforms and the copper doesn't or doesn't deform as much
Buy just in case parts on sales from a pull yourself graveyard - at 40% to 50% off - an alt, steering pump, radiator fan & caliper are $15 each - store in a box so 6 mo or a year later one is needed all is paid for
A few years ago my alternator light started flickering at 100K miles so I panicked and bought a new brush set. I still haven't put it on yet and it's now at 212K miles. I think it fixed itself!
Dirt/carbon dust buildup on the brushes can cause an intermittent contact problem like this with the commutator... So it "fixed itself" just by running.😉
If you have several alternators, you often can make one good one by swapping parts around. Did once with an old Delco external regulator alternator and an internal regulator Delco. Long time ago. Don't remember exactly. I probably swapped the rectifier packs. Now about to attempt it with two 90s-era Toyota alternators. One I think has a bad voltage regulator. The other possibly a broken solder joint. We will see.
BECAUSE sometimes you have the money,not the time …or …the time, not the money Thus you do what you gotta do and knowledge will get ya there…thanks for sharing knowledge 👍
I always wanted to diy when my daughters car's alternator bearing went wear off but due to lack of tools, like welding machine when u welded that two bolts in order to pull that old bearing, things li,e that, but i enjoyed watching your nice video, by the way, I'm watching this here in Manila, Philippines 🇵🇭. Thanks.
I will always try and rebuild when possible. Great video. Had a BMW Z3 and alternator died. Decided NOT to pay $370+ for alt alone and for $29 got the regulator and fixed. New bearings would have been "nice" but next time. BENEFIT OVER BUYING REBUILT. RE-BUILDERS do NOT replace old parts, only BROKEN PARTS. This means a rebuild MAY have new bearings OR NEW regulator or new BRUSHES, but rarely all 3. Rebuilds die sooner due to old parts not replaced. that is why. readers comments below.
That really the best method to take with a worn alternator. You can buy USA bearings, HD bearings, Wide bearings and HD voltage regulators etc. without having to gamble on a rebuilt alternator from the parts store not knowing how good the inside parts are.
The work is easy and if you're not sure it's worth a visit to your local electrical shop to bring yours in and chat with the tech. Most of those are small shops who also sell parts. You can have your alternator load tested at most auto stores before rebuild to help diagnose it then after to confirm its to spec.
I appreciate your work. I'm a bit lazier so I just bought a lifetime alternator from the auto parts store. I'm on my third alternator. They are going to lose money on me. Oh and sometimes the diodes or voltage regulator go bad in the alternator.
Alternator in my sprinter would charge when running, around 14V, but when shut off, it would DISCHARGE the battery rapidly. Tested, and found bad diode pack… I replaced it, but kept the old one, and wanna replace the diode pack. I will be hunting for a new set soon.
It's not the low voltage that gets them, it's that when batteries are going flat and go down in voltage, the current capacity of the battery goes way down. So when it dies at 8v, it may or may not be the system falling below a voltage threshold so much as the battery just cannot put out much current when it is down to 8v.
I've always rebuilt stuff like that cause my daddy used to get soooo upset at me for buying a completely refurbished starter or alternator in the 70s..I'm pretty sure I's 13yrs old first started I done and 17yr olds with the 1st alternator cause I also bought used parts for hardly anything back then but I always went through the parts to make sure I didn't get a dud lol..This needs taught to our youth cause it's coming a time where parts for anything is going to be impossible to get or find..I've always collected engine parts that most people throw away but I go through everything to make sure everything's worth keeping..I needed a GM 04 Pontiac Grand Am starter for a 2.2 ecotec engine and I took my starter and a 3400 V6 engine starter and made myself 1 good one but I didn't throw anything away cause never know when I might have to have those extra pieces and parts..A refurbished starter, with my old one is 200 at Advance Auto and 165 at Auto Zone with my old starter. Summit Racing is 106 although they found 1 for 61 bucks that takes a couple weeks to get to me but I'm not going to pass on it..After the process of pricing parts at different places, my new hobby is collecting used worn out parts to rebuild em with other used parts cause times are hard and i have a strong feeling that it's only going to get alot worse than it's ever been when it comes to automobile parts new or used. ..
As a kid, I used to ride along while my brother in law would do some electric work for a guy who rebuilt starters n alternators. I'd watch a little but ol Earl would fly through them.
Couple years back we got an old worn out tractor for free, we dont wanna put in big money to keep her going since shell be replaced by a stronger one in the future, this might just be the video i needed to fix her up!💪🏼
That was a good one. My problem is over charging at 196% according too my fancy charger. I replaced the voltage regulator and got the volts down too below 16 but now what? Probably have too replace alternator to get charging down too just 100%
Thanks for doing that; i will rebuild the one in the Jeep ($20), and put a brand new one in there now...($100). Factors out to two for $120, which ain't too bad; always good to have a backup!
You are probably smartest person on TH-cam on the subject of alternators, but I have a problem. Its the second time I have replaced my alternator with a new one for my 2011 VW Routan SE 3.6L and after turning engine on I tested the alternator with a meter at the alternator end both times I only get the reading of the battery 12V but not 14V. I can't figure it out and left message to a bunch of TH-cam DIY but no one knows.
The alternator needs power to the field coils before it starts charging. These are usually two smaller wires going to the alternator, not the large one used for charging. On a vehicle that new, it should be the engine computer that turns on the field. If you don't have power to that, then the alternator won't charge. The parts stores around here will test the alternator for free, then you'll know if the problem is the engine computer or the alternator.
My experience with alternators is the new one from the parts store doesn't work either and they will gladly keep giving me new ones that won't work until i get angry, demand my original core back, and rebuild it myself.
Bearings and brushes are simple, not usually problem plus, easy fix. Worn bearings just give some noise, worn brushes, not generally below 120,000 miles unless you do a lot of stop start with not so great battery that is never fully charged Rectifier pack or regulator much more common in my experience simple enough to fix but you won't get the parts for $19.00. High amperage regulator to fit inside alternator is expensive.
I'm no jeep guy but could it be an intended feature to exaggerate the voltage drop on the gauge so driver will notice the problem as the needle is not midway? I wonder if the other gauges do that if a relating problem arises. Also I think its a neat feature to have a warning light and a chime too. Easy fix with that nater, mine wouldn't be as simple with a vacuum pump on the back and soldered joints.
A rebuilder in my area a few years ago charged about $100-$125 to rebuild a alternator, must ck prices at Auto Parts Store before to see best way to go...
Growing up there was always a shop to rebuild alts and starters. Now I do my own. Good to see you show others as well.
How did you discover a local alternator rebuild parts supplier?
@@bobgreene2892 my local Ace hardware store has the stack boxes, full of bolts and fasteners. They also carry carbon brushes. Then if you spin and dress your stator, install new brushes. Your all set. Most of the time.
@@bobgreene2892 Got Amazon, Ebay, Google..... It just happens( ;
In Cleveland Ohio area I recommend Gregg's alternator and starter rebuild!!!
Handy hint.
On news bearings pop the seals off and repack with good synthetic grease the crap grease they come with looks like Vaseline.
FYI.
,my uncle in cambodia always rebuild like u...because parts over there are so limited that u dont throw away like usa...save money and they even try to make parts for that device...off of scraps stuff...i was so suprise how creative people that fix solve problems...nice
There's a scrapyard not well known in my area that sells tested starters and alternators for $30-35 and gives you ten for your core. Their warranty is one year and is the best kept secret around here and even though it's an hour drive each way is where I go after calling for availability. They give free gas away too whether you buy something or not up to 20 gallons which is the secret.
I never thought about that, they probably get a lot of gas in the tanks of cars that come in, and would probably have to pay to dispose of the hazardous material.
Where are they located?
@@wesleycorder4594 New Hampshire
How is an hour drive in your area
@@brinkboysproductions6061 Rarely deal with traffic and it's mostly highway driving. Definitely a huge change from DC or anywhere in that area.
This guy is great. I get total Bob Ross vibes from his teaching style. 👍👍
Literally birds are chirping in the back..
😂
Great idea to rebuild an alternator. I just learned that a new 175 Amp dealer alternator for my Lincoln Navigator is $1,000.00 here in Canada. A rebuild can be had for about $650.00 to $700.00 (CDN). We have one reputable alternator rebuilder in Toronto that does a quality rebuild for about a quarter of the new price, but they do have a turn-around time of 4 to 7 days, so you have to be willing to be without a vehicle for up to a week.
Good day from Ontario Kitchener Waterloo area We have a fellow up here that does it too.
So were are from ? Thanks
Well you did buy a Lincoln....
@@r3dhorse True, it is a premium vehicle, but I acquired mine used for a fraction of the new list price. It isn't just a high price for the badge name. I've realized the vehicle has a number of very high quality parts that exceed the quality of its' cousin, the Ford Expedition. The standard 175 Amp alternator is just one example of that.
Unless the bearing is severely worn or about to fall apart, you can prop it up so that the top surface of the bearing is level. Then clean any dirt off the seal with a clean rag. Next, put a few drops of motor oil on top of the bearing and rotate the bearing by hand for a minute or two. Keep the top of the bearing soaked with oil. If you rotate the bearing back & forth for a few minutes, some oil will usually seep down into the bearing. Unless the bearing is severely worn, it will usually run for a few more years. The thicker the oil you can get into it, the longer it will take to dry out again. If no oil will go down into the bearing, you can pry open the seal a little to get some to go inside the bearing. Damaging the seal is okay, just don't completely remove it. Don't get oil all over the inside of the alternator because dirt will stick to it and make the unit run hotter. Alternators hate that.
I used this method on a dry idler pulley on my 2000 Ford Expedition serpentine belt. That was about 5 years ago. I have the new pulley, but am too lazy to install it. And the tensioner spring on that Ford belt is some strong. It is amazing that those bearings last as long as they do.
Smart phone photos are good to have before you pull things apart. Free too.
All the wind, & background "scenery" , reminds me of the White Mountains in Arizona. I remember working on my property and would be working on a bench outdoors and the wind would revv up to 70 mph or so and pick up my table and tools and throw it all 20 or 30 feet or so. Ahhh, such fond memories.
Every Spring, still happens, from Bakersfield through west Texas... Albuquerque gets it from all directions, depending on the day...
That was a nice honest video. I really liked the trick he used welding the nuts to the bearings in order to get them off. A few suggestions always mark a line from one end of the alternator to the other before you do anything so that when you go to put it back together you will know the correct position the 2 ends should go back on. I would also check each diode to make sure they are all good and I would also check the coils to make sure none of them have a short to ground. Still, this was a very nice video.
if the coil was shorted, you'd have to re-wind it right? my alternator housing (case) was cracked. I haven't opened it up yet but I figured if the case is cracked it probably isn't even worth the rebuild. I am thinking about taking it apart just to learn. (it's what I do)
Cracked case was probably from a previous swap out. . . Probably run another bazillion miles after this rebuilding. . .
I used to love working at the local salvage yard. One of the perks of the job was free parts. Within reason obviously. I couldn't just take home stuff all willy nilly as I pleased, but if it was for my vehicle, it was free. I fully restored my 2000 Civic Si for nothing. Replacement engine, starter, alternator, steering pump, ac compressor, full interior, both doors, both bumpers, trunk lid, hood, headlights, tail lights, and wheels.
I had a '73 Peugeot 504 many years ago, and the brushes went out on the alternator. They are in a small plastic box that is held in by one screw. I disconnected the one wire on the box, removed the box and put 2 new brushes in it without removing the alternator. It was actually made to be easily repaired! The 2 brushes cost me $1.50 at an auto electric shop. So easy!
My dad bought a used 1966 Peugeot from a co worker that had four speeds on the column. I just remember how expensive parts were for that thing. It needed wheel cylinders and at the time wheel cylinders were going for 5 or 6 bucks for American cars. They wanted45 bucks for one wheel cylinder and you had to travel to find one. My dad didn't keep that car too long. Good comment.
My first car was a 1970 Puegeot 304. The first front wheel drive car imported to the USA. The manual transmission shared the engine oil. The engine mounted on top of the transmission.
@@mostlymoparih5682 There are some dirty tricks. Measure the diameter of the wheel cylinder. Find another on with the same diameter. Swap seals. One I heard about was the guy who figured out Chevy wheel bearings would work in his old Jaguar.
@@anonymike8280 Yeah some seals and bearing have a number on them and you can order them that way also. If we were not able to get the cylinders we were going to try and match up a wheel cylinder repair kit. Happy Motoring.
@@mostlymoparih5682 Last time I had to deal with a leaky wheel cylinder, I just swapped the insides. Same cylinder though.
James, by your teaching style, you show that we can 'work around' and fix many things we previously would not dare. I bet your kids are GREAT problem solvers. God bless your family John 3:16
Recently the alternator in my F150 gave up in Gillette WY late Saturday . Monday was a holiday, and I had plans in Oakland CA that Monday nite.
I bought a gas powered elect generator from harbor freight. It had 12 volt output that I wired to the battery. It got me where I needed to be
Nothing stops Scott. Nothing.
@@Dancing_Alone_wRentals thank you sir.
It nearly ruined my marriage. As I recall the unit only put out 8 amps DC.
The women could not understand why I would not let them turn on any accessories, or why we had to be in a hotel before dark, and had to be on the road by dawn.
Try explaining ohms law to a wife that thinks your being mean and selfish.
@@scotthanson7888 , Is there another option? Like say, Wrestling an Alligator, or maybe mountain climbing without ropes?
That was a good solution, I'm going to remember that idea!
@@scotthanson7888 I suppose you could have also bought a battery charger.
Good diagnosis. Nippondenso engineers are the absolute best in my opinion. NDenso used on Toyota, Honda in 90's best ever. I was a rebuilder for 20yrs and never found one bad bearing, they are oversized. Even their starters have great bearings and metal gears instead of brass bushings. Of course today, more and more magnets and plastic gears. Funny watching some some channels taking the battery cable off when running..Don't!! That's a myth from the old 6V generator days.
A generator will not work with the battery out of the circuit. Had an old Ford Falcon way back when. It had a brown out at night. I was able to stop and tighten the battery terminal with the engine running. Fixed that. In the old days of points, ignition coils and relatively low output alternators, you could take off a battery terminal and the alternator would keep on going. In electronic vehicles with high output alternators, you risk a high voltage surge and damage to the computer or anything else with electronic circuitry in it. If you have to do it, maybe it would be a good idea to have the headlights, air conditioner and anything you can think of turned on to sink the possible spike in current. Better yet, just don't.
Well now I know how to do that if I ever needed too. $20 over $80 and the satisfaction of doing it yourself. Priceless. Thanks.
A brother of mine did his starter work like this. Sometimes just cleaning it up a little will do wonders.
Glad I found your video.
This put me back working with my dad in his shop. Bearings and brushes - and sometimes the Voltage Regulator - would fix any alternator not shorted or with the stator contacts or windings damaged. Same for starters and add (for GM) reversing the copper 'slug' contact in the solenoid - sometimes a re-rivet job on the slug spindle. Then back in the customer's car. Brushes cost less than a buck for a set and bearings usually $1-3 apiece depending on model. Even less for starter bushings.
But always use the press, and some penetrating oil - too many damaged shafts and housings otherwise. You can get cheap presses to do the work these days, too.
So many things we used to recondition or remanufacture - now they're mainly just throw-away bolt-ons.
Awesome instructional video, love the old school approach 😎
This reminds me of when I rebuilt the carburetor on my wife's '79 Honda Civic on the dining room table at like 23 years old... Had no idea what I was doing, but I got it done right, lol. Nice video 👍
EDIT: btw, I was 23 - not the car, lol.
When I was a dealership mechanic back in the 80's and 90's, we would repair alternators, not replace them. The most common problem with GM alternators at that time was the diode/triode, pretty cheap part.
I want to learn howto do this. Best wishes.
Cool alternator repair video. I'm often willing to attempt to repair things that others might just replace. Thanks for sharing this.
My 62 Belair had a generator. Replaced the brushes twice in 35 years - really easy. Bushings seem to last forever when you add a few drops of oil every oil change.
I'm old enough to remember when generators and starters usually had an oil fill port for the bushings... you just flipped up the little cap and inserted a drop or two before flipping the cap back down.
Usually Bearings are the most common failure except on new cars the decoupler pulley followed by either the Brushes or the voltage regulator. On very rare occasions the diodes go bad but in the thousands of Alternators I rebuilt only once I saw a winding burn up do to over currenting. I would have used the same method to install the front bearing too just a larger socket to drive the outer race of the bearing. Nice to see people that actually rebuild things it's becoming a lost art.
Alternator on my wife's 03 Accord stopped working at 160k. The brushes were shot, and it was dirty in there. One slip ring was very worn, and I filed it down. Bearings were good and regulator is built in to the brush mount, so that got replaced also. Replaced the brushes and it worked fine for 2 days. Then it stopped working and I guessed the diodes went bad. Ultimately replaced the alternator with an AZ unit. Too bad it was not brushes and bearings as is most common.
@@stevewolf2620 usually when a Diode goes bad it will cause a voltage drain when the car is off. might have been a bad connection on the voltage regulator or it went bad.
Man that was gratifying at the end. I also had the chance to rebuild stuff that you can probably easily buy at the store. I rebuilt 2 electric fan motors. All it needed was carbon brush and bearing replacement. Though one shaft was a bit worn, it should last me some years. I saved like 300 dollars on that rebuild.
There's no fun on buying a new one and just replace it. You are the Man 👍🏼
Your dash voltmeter was working fine initially - the needle was on the thick line halfway between 9 & 14 volts, which is 11.5 volts. Close enough to the 11.6V from the plugin reader . . . when it was reading right at the beginning. Obviously when it dropped below 9V & reader was 11.3 that's a big difference . . .
Thanks a lot for sharing this video, great to see how easy and cheap it is to fix an alternator. The last one I bought was AU$500 so even $50 for bearings and brushes would be way cheaper.
Totally awesome... A few hours of work and you saved yourself about $200.. ( Holy crap... It doesn't seem like it was that long ago when they were only $40)
you can use the old bearing to press the new one, I did this with a washer bearing it avoids the danger of punching a whole in a new bearing.
💯, can also use a thick washer with a slightly bigger center, so it's easy to pop off after. Maybe put a nylon washer in between to eliminate any potential damage.
Great video. When I was young you could buy alternator brushes and bearings at any autoparts store. As the years went by you could no longer buy rebuild parts at all and a re-manufactured part was all that was available. It is so awesome to live in the age of the internet shopping and eBay where these parts are now available.
Great video, thanks for making it fun to watch. I bought a new alternator for a Kia Optima 2015 on Amazon ($160). Now I have the old one to play with.
5:59 you can often use just a large washer and make a cut in one side. Then you can slip in under the bearing and since the washer is larger it often is enough distance so the bearing puller "claws" straighten out a bit and get smaller. Also you can avoid sometimes that the housing is very close to the bearing.
I always enjoy your videos and always learn something from you. You Sir are a man after my own heart, why spend money if you have the time talent and resources to do things yourself, a message that sounds clearly in all your videos. Your desert home shops and property is amazing and your recently acquired depleted silver mine property is like a private museum of creativity with an abundance of resources to make it happen. I worked in the field, fleet maintenance and now retired and honestly I must say you do things I and probably most like me haven’t ever done or live long enough to do.
Thanks for the welding the bearing tip
Great video! I drive an '05 Dakota w/ 123,000. No charging issues yet, but I'll keep this in mind. We used to have a guy that did rebuilds in our area, but has since closed up shop.
As a retired mechanic you can use a deep wall socket that fits on your inner race to install your front bearing rather than a punch.
Surely it should be the outer race. Otherwise you are transferring the forces through the bearings rather than directly on the race.
Thanks. It's nice to watch a kindred spirit every now and then, we work in similar ways and have like mindedness in humor. Keep up the good, well, OK work.😎🤠
Getting ready to do this on my 2014 Buick Encore ...right after I just put a new head on it ....ugh ...lol. I looked RIGHT AT the alternator and said nawwww, it's good !! grrrrr ..lol. I'm MUCH to cheap to spend $250-300 on an alternator .... I'm 70 and should know better by now but NOOOOOOOOOO....it's good ...lol. My head lights are flickering at night and believe the alternator to be the culprit ...wish me luck !! Ebay is my best friend too !! Thanks for a great fun video with that REAL WORLD "ooops" in there as well !!
Good Job!, an alternative to struggling with removing the smaller bearing is to just use a very small screwdriver to remove the grease seal, then clean out the old grease and repack the bearing. Then replace the grease shield. If it spins smooth then you're OK for a while. Just saying' Mike
I thought that you would suggest jamming a screw between the races to pull with.
My Subaru alternator stopped alting. Like you, I thought it would be easy to fix. After I took the case apart, I bought a new alternator. They aren't made like they used to be.
Lol alting
Loved your very entertaining presentation!
nice bit of improvising. quality vid mate.
thanks for this, just had mine go and its cold in Canada, 98 zj, 385000 kms
I do believe it’s good to know these things to be a good mechanic and I personally have rebuilt many things but I found out long ago that when you buy auto parts at the neighborhood stores, they generally come with a lifetime warranty. All you need to do is keep the vehicle. My 97 blazer has 450k on it and I always get new alternators, brakes, radiators, water pumps, wiper and window motors and more miscellaneous parts. Just saying to keep track of your part purchases. It really save cash too. Thanks for the video..
Always keep the receipts. Scan the invoice into your computer with the date,
@@richardeldridge6522 They keep it in the computer and track it with the phone number you give them. Sometimes they can look you up with an email, street address or even (get this) your name. Probably a good idea to save a scan of the receipt, but good chance if they don't find you in the computer, they won't honor the warranty. The parts chains also issue loyalty cards. Good idea to make a scan of that too.
The lifetime warranty is just a marketing tactic for them. Probably, the majority of the customers do not have the same vehicle a year later.
to get bearings off the rotor i take the angle grinder and cut grooves into the bearing to get the puller onto.
super easy this way.
Great idea!
I like the idea of welding two nuts to the bearing to get it out.
One idea to push out the rod where the brushes make contact is to put a thick piece of wood over it and then hit with a metal hammer. That way the wood deforms and the copper doesn't or doesn't deform as much
Buy just in case parts on sales from a pull yourself graveyard - at 40% to 50% off - an alt, steering pump, radiator fan & caliper are $15 each - store in a box so 6 mo or a year later one is needed all is paid for
A few years ago my alternator light started flickering at 100K miles so I panicked and bought a new brush set. I still haven't put it on yet and it's now at 212K miles. I think it fixed itself!
Dirt/carbon dust buildup on the brushes can cause an intermittent contact problem like this with the commutator... So it "fixed itself" just by running.😉
If you have several alternators, you often can make one good one by swapping parts around. Did once with an old Delco external regulator alternator and an internal regulator Delco. Long time ago. Don't remember exactly. I probably swapped the rectifier packs. Now about to attempt it with two 90s-era Toyota alternators. One I think has a bad voltage regulator. The other possibly a broken solder joint. We will see.
Great video. I had no idea there were rebuild kits for alternators. Thanks for posting.
BECAUSE sometimes you have the money,not the time …or …the time, not the money
Thus you do what you gotta do and knowledge will get ya there…thanks for sharing knowledge 👍
Love your attitude!
Really happy I found this guys channel very entertaining, thank you for your videos.
Should check the diodes while you are inside of it. If some are bad, it will still work but have reduced DC current output
It was definitely helpful.
thankYou SIR!
That Bluetooth charger is awesome. I have one too. Is actually very accurate.
I always wanted to diy when my daughters car's alternator bearing went wear off but due to lack of tools, like welding machine when u welded that two bolts in order to pull that old bearing, things li,e that, but i enjoyed watching your nice video, by the way, I'm watching this here in Manila, Philippines 🇵🇭. Thanks.
I will always try and rebuild when possible. Great video. Had a BMW Z3 and alternator died. Decided NOT to pay $370+ for alt alone and for $29 got the regulator and fixed. New bearings would have been "nice" but next time. BENEFIT OVER BUYING REBUILT. RE-BUILDERS do NOT replace old parts, only BROKEN PARTS. This means a rebuild MAY have new bearings OR NEW regulator or new BRUSHES, but rarely all 3. Rebuilds die sooner due to old parts not replaced. that is why. readers comments below.
Awesome vid….you were going to town with that mallet near your boys…haha!. Great content on this channel.
Thanks! Good thing I have a lot of hammer practice, it would be bad to miss!
I always use STP when I assemble press fits. CMD EP lube works well too.
Great video
I’m going to try rebuilding my alternator.
Thank you
I like the plug in cigarette lighter volt meter. I want one for oil pressure.😂
That really the best method to take with a worn alternator. You can buy USA bearings, HD bearings, Wide bearings and HD voltage regulators etc. without having to gamble on a rebuilt alternator from the parts store not knowing how good the inside parts are.
The work is easy and if you're not sure it's worth a visit to your local electrical shop to bring yours in and chat with the tech. Most of those are small shops who also sell parts. You can have your alternator load tested at most auto stores before rebuild to help diagnose it then after to confirm its to spec.
I use to rebuild my alternators on my 70s and 80s GMs!
I aspire to have your awesome and refreshing attitude. Thank you for making this video and being so damn cool
Good video. Nice job.
Happy Motoring.
Definitely needed this😊
One of the best jeeps ever made
Unfortunately, they've never made any good jeeps. You have to love them since no one can like them.😀
I appreciate your work. I'm a bit lazier so I just bought a lifetime alternator from the auto parts store. I'm on my third alternator. They are going to lose money on me. Oh and sometimes the diodes or voltage regulator go bad in the alternator.
Hopefully the first trip you took on the test run included a stop at the hardware store to pick up a bearing separator.
That’s the way they used to be done. Rebuilt on site by a mechanic. Things have changed and may go back to the old way.
Exellente video sir. Thank you for sharing.
Alternator in my sprinter would charge when running, around 14V, but when shut off, it would DISCHARGE the battery rapidly.
Tested, and found bad diode pack…
I replaced it, but kept the old one, and wanna replace the diode pack.
I will be hunting for a new set soon.
It's not the low voltage that gets them, it's that when batteries are going flat and go down in voltage, the current capacity of the battery goes way down. So when it dies at 8v, it may or may not be the system falling below a voltage threshold so much as the battery just cannot put out much current when it is down to 8v.
I've always rebuilt stuff like that cause my daddy used to get soooo upset at me for buying a completely refurbished starter or alternator in the 70s..I'm pretty sure I's 13yrs old first started I done and 17yr olds with the 1st alternator cause I also bought used parts for hardly anything back then but I always went through the parts to make sure I didn't get a dud lol..This needs taught to our youth cause it's coming a time where parts for anything is going to be impossible to get or find..I've always collected engine parts that most people throw away but I go through everything to make sure everything's worth keeping..I needed a GM 04 Pontiac Grand Am starter for a 2.2 ecotec engine and I took my starter and a 3400 V6 engine starter and made myself 1 good one but I didn't throw anything away cause never know when I might have to have those extra pieces and parts..A refurbished starter, with my old one is 200 at Advance Auto and 165 at Auto Zone with my old starter. Summit Racing is 106 although they found 1 for 61 bucks that takes a couple weeks to get to me but I'm not going to pass on it..After the process of pricing parts at different places, my new hobby is collecting used worn out parts to rebuild em with other used parts cause times are hard and i have a strong feeling that it's only going to get alot worse than it's ever been when it comes to automobile parts new or used. ..
My Jeep grand Cherokee was the biggest sack of crap….I’ll never own another Jeep product. Liked the video . Thank you for doing it
Very cool, and a great learning experience. Thanks for sharing this 👍☮️
Glad you enjoyed it!
As a kid, I used to ride along while my brother in law would do some electric work for a guy who rebuilt starters n alternators. I'd watch a little but ol Earl would fly through them.
Alternatively, you can pop the dust seals from the outside, and re grease them, makes them good as new essentially
Couple years back we got an old worn out tractor for free, we dont wanna put in big money to keep her going since shell be replaced by a stronger one in the future, this might just be the video i needed to fix her up!💪🏼
It's still very neat to see inside the alternator.
A triumph of cheap bastard determination! Some men climb mountains & pat thousands to do so. Excellent challenge of get er done
That was a good one. My problem is over charging at 196% according too my fancy charger. I replaced the voltage regulator and got the volts down too below 16 but now what? Probably have too replace alternator to get charging down too just 100%
Thanks for doing that; i will rebuild the one in the Jeep ($20), and put a brand new one in there now...($100). Factors out to two for $120, which ain't too bad; always good to have a backup!
I've ground the tips (of a 3-jaw puller) down, to fit in tight a area.
Pullers are cheap…well, the ones I modified were.
Very smart. One time a mechanic told me you have to make your own tools.
Congrats. Its called repairing vs. being an R&R artist, that is removing and replacing.
Hi , as always intertaining and informitive .
Thanks, glad you enjoyed it!
Thank you for this wonderful video. Have a super great life.
You are probably smartest person on TH-cam on the subject of alternators, but I have a problem. Its the second time I have replaced my alternator with a new one for my 2011 VW Routan SE 3.6L and after turning engine on I tested the alternator with a meter at the alternator end both times I only get the reading of the battery 12V but not 14V. I can't figure it out and left message to a bunch of TH-cam DIY but no one knows.
The alternator needs power to the field coils before it starts charging. These are usually two smaller wires going to the alternator, not the large one used for charging. On a vehicle that new, it should be the engine computer that turns on the field. If you don't have power to that, then the alternator won't charge. The parts stores around here will test the alternator for free, then you'll know if the problem is the engine computer or the alternator.
The Bob Ross of auto repair.
Thats the way to do it. when "alt fail" take it out, take it apart, do a visual, all looks ok then go get yourself a kit.
Great ....... what a good idea..... thanks
Great video. I like your style.
liked that Weld-a Bearing, v.good video.
This video was awesome loved it
My experience with alternators is the new one from the parts store doesn't work either and they will gladly keep giving me new ones that won't work until i get angry, demand my original core back, and rebuild it myself.
Acronym of new... Never Ever Worked
@@kelsycunningham8452 that's awesome, thanks!
If you bought a new one there would be no core charge. Lol
@@TheMainLead mouthy kid
*- Good education tutorial for me. Now I know.*
*- I could have done that and done my first weld too...if I had the right size long socket handy.*
Love the dainty little hammer😂
Bearings and brushes are simple, not usually problem plus, easy fix.
Worn bearings just give some noise, worn brushes, not generally below 120,000 miles unless you do a lot of stop start with not so great battery that is never fully charged
Rectifier pack or regulator much more common in my experience simple enough to fix but you won't get the parts for $19.00.
High amperage regulator to fit inside alternator is expensive.
I'm no jeep guy but could it be an intended feature to exaggerate the voltage drop on the gauge so driver will notice the problem as the needle is not midway?
I wonder if the other gauges do that if a relating problem arises. Also I think its a neat feature to have a warning light and a chime too.
Easy fix with that nater, mine wouldn't be as simple with a vacuum pump on the back and soldered joints.
A rebuilder in my area a few years ago charged about $100-$125 to rebuild a alternator, must ck prices at Auto Parts Store before to see best way to go...