HALMAN

Need to replace my '93' Toys alternator, should I stay with the Toyota brand or go with a rebuilt or Mean Grean???

I have an Optima Red and the damn thing just went dead on my wife at the market. I jumped it and got her home. I'm most sure it's the alt. the Optima is only 5 months old, and the alternator is 180,000 and ten yrs old.

What advice can you gurus give me???

Much appreciated!

Hbum

Her's what I would do.
Take alternator and battery to good alternator rebuild shop and get both checked out. It is possible for a battery to die young.

Bumpin' Yota

Ditto! I HATE red tops with a PASSION! They are total crap IMO. Get everything checked out first to isolate with 100% certainty what went out on you.

steve

4x4CPOSEADOG

Hey Halman,
Take the battery and the alternator off the vehicle and take them to either Advance or Autozone and have them check.

Now if the alternator is bad, I highly recommend to get one from your nearest Toyota dealer. They should give you a one year warranty. I don't know anything about the Mean Green alternator. I would stick with original Toyota brand, sure it may cost more but you get what you paid for. I highly suggest not to get a rebuilt from Advance. Why? I had a bad experienced with rebuild, I had to return 5 alternators from Advance because they did not last and each of them were only good for a month and without warning, they quit on me. Luckily they were lifetime warranty but I was tired of removal and installations for the fifth times. So I went to Toyota and got me a brand spanking new alternator. Oh yeah, they don't accept non-Toyota alternator core so you may get $30 dollars for core charge. If your alternator is failing and it is original, take it to Toyota and it will save you $30 bucks.

Now if the Optima is at fault and it is only five months then it should be still under warranty. I don't know how much you paid for that red top, but this is what I did. Again I went to Toyota to get the DYNACELL battery. I paid $104.00 with tax and their warranty is five years. Within that five years and if the battery failed, they will give you a new one. No pro-rata, they will just replace it within 5 years. And how long a battery good for? More likely between 4-5 years.

See if you can return the Optima and get your money back. Try to get the DYNACELL and they don't need your old battery for core.

Hope this info helps you in anyway.

Noel

YoungFeller

Don't forget to do the simplest thing first...clean the battery contacts!

Poor Ma got stranded at the store. I went down and jumpered her and I was about to go get her another battery. The battery turned out the be completely fine. The contacts were dirty and when I hooked up the cables, it must have provided enough juice to jump over the dirty part.

That hasn't been the only time either. We've had more than double the no-starts caused by battery connection than batteries.

Eric

AJatx

Mean Green for 3rd gen 3.4L 4Runner runs around $365.
It comes with a 2 year warranty, but they will warranty the alternator if it isn't immersed in water nor running an unreasonable huge stereo system.

I'm planning on going with Mean Green since it runs about 140A and comes with a better warranty. It's complete bolt-on as well.

J

Jay

Heres some simple advice for the do-it-yer'selfer.

If you disconnect the negative battery terminal while the vehicle is running, and the vehicle continues to run odds are the alternator is ok. However if the alternator is just not performing well (ie low output) you will not be able to tell.

If the vehicle is cranking a little slow in the mornings, you have a weak battery.

williemon

That wont fry any electronics??

HALMAN

Thanks for your responces. As it turns out, the battery was the cause. LOOSE CABLES!:pat: The battery wasn't getting charged to full capacity.

After charging her up, and running on I78 for an hour at 70mph, she is sparking like a bolt of lightening!

Also, come to find out, (wife held this back from me on that day) that the kids had left the dome lights and the map lights on since they left the house, and while she was food shopping, about and hour and a half. Which contributed to the Optima finally losing what reserves she had left in her.

I still stand by the Optima Red, I figured she wasn't getting the full charge from the altenator for about a week or so, and she held on until my little gremlins started to play!

Thanks again for your inputs!
HALMAN

Ironmike4x4

BAD advice! I've heard of "old-timers" using this trick on older trucks, but do NOT do this period. Reason being is the battery acts as a voltage spike buffer according to my GM training manual. It may cause a battery explosion (which just about anything can) and any sudden spikes from the alternator can ruin certain OBD2 components (my manual does not elaborate). There is a "shade tree mechanic way" and the stupid way.
An old thread I know but I was searching for alternator rebuilding when I came across this. Better to give right advice than be stuck to wrong advice.

ARB1977

Ive had my optima red for two years with no ill effects. Make sure the terminals are nice and tight and add some dielectric grease around the terminals that way then will never corrode.