Hi all, i have an 88 245...i'm considering buying a new alternator from the dealership (the one that costs ~$400) because after a year of having my Bosch remanufactured one (that cost $120) flickering problems on the dash warning lights started for no reason. After talking to some mechanics and reading online it seems that reman. is kind of garbage-ey and can give out or have problems at any time.
so does anyone know if the new ones from Volvo are the same quality as the OEM Bosch one i had in the car when purchased new and lasted 24 years?

 

you should be able to get the new volvo alternator considerably cheaper at tasca than at a local dealer.

remanufactured quality is all over the place, some is as good as new, and some isn't. might be worth taking it apart and seeing why its failing... could be the commutator is badly worn, where upon it shouldn't have been rebuild in the first place as it likely ate the new brushes they installed.

see Electrical: Engine Starting, Charging for some useful tips.

 

At Tasca it is $374

 

then I wonder what your dealer is selling, as Tasca's prices are typically 30% off MSRP and most dealers sell parts for MSRP only unless you're getting a special deal

 

ah, and that alternator at tasca has a core charge, and a $515 MSRP, which i suspect is a *good* rebuild, as opposed to brand new (otherwise, no core charge). a cheap rebuild likely just got new brushes slapped on it, and its exterior cleaned up to look pretty. a good rebuild should have had new commutator, new bearings installed. if the latter has been done, then they should be every bit as good as a new one.

 

Is it hard to rebuild your own?

 

someone corrected me, and oh yeah, alternators have RINGS not commutators, they are AC not DC.


anyways... refurbishing it would depend on what it needs. it could just need cleaning out and new brushes. it might need bearings, and it might need new rings.

this doc has a blow-up of how its assembled.
http://caunter.ca/volvo960/vp14805.pdf

looks pretty simple, but I've never taken one apart

p.s. while its not labeled there, the rings are on the back end of the rotor. unclear if replacement rings are available, or how you swap them.

 

so do they just not make new ones anymore? it would suck if i bought that rebuilt one from tasca and it turns out to be garbage-ey too...seems like i have to learn how to rebuild an alternator to ensure it is good quality

 

the ones rebuilt by Bosch themselves should be considerably better quality than the ones rebuilt by Jose & Co Alternators and Hubcaps down the street.

 

well just took it to oreilly and they tested it and said i had a bad diode in the alternator...and i'm pretty sure the one i bought was bosch reman. from fcp a year ago.
anway, i also noticed that when i hit the brake the dimmer switch comes on and it dims my stereo and turns on the gear shift and dash panel lights...would this be caused by a diode?

 

hmm, those latter symptoms to ME sound more like a bad ground somewhere behind the dash... but... a bad diode could mean a whole lot of AC is getting out, which would do all kinda nasty stuff to the electrics.

Hey, if it was just a year ago, it might be worth giving FCP a call, they are good guys... be nice, explain the o'reilly test and symptoms, see what they say?

 

that's fine...but i''m not sure i want to keep putting in unreliable alternators in my car tho

 

I'd check salvage yards, you'd be surprised as to what you find there. My guess is that 30% of Volvo owners use the stealer and most of them have no problems with throwing parts at old cars.

 

so if i have a short somewhere (which perhaps causes the dimmer switch to come on when i hit the brakes)...would that cause an alternator diodes to fail prematurely?

 

I'd never replace an alternator. Almost always it's something else rather than that part. There is very little to an alternator that can go wrong in spite of what it looks like, namely two bearings and a regulator, the latter being the part that wears, the former fails after may be 500k miles.

 

the slip rings can be deeply grooved if they were run too long with bad brushes. I found some website that had these for the very old alternators found in 122's and such, but not for the later model ones. also, diodes can fail... the diode board is separate from the regulator, and requires disassembling the alternator to access.

 

well the one from tasca/volvo has a 12-month warranty just like the ones you buy from other sites like fcp...i'm guessing it's the same thing