Vanagon EuroVan
Previous messageNext messagePrevious in topicNext in topicPrevious by same authorNext by same authorPrevious page (July 1999, week 2)Back to main VANAGON pageJoin or leave VANAGON (or change settings)ReplyPost a new messageSearchProportional fontNon-proportional font
Date:         Wed, 14 Jul 1999 00:14:20 -0400
Reply-To:     "Karl F. Bloss" <bloss@ENTER.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         "Karl F. Bloss" <bloss@ENTER.NET>
Subject:      remanufactured parts and alternators
Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII

When kicking around my alternator options, I called a local alternator shop (A-1 Alternator in Allentown, PA). Since they promised (and delivered) on a 24-hour turnaround, I decided to have that done rather than try to change the connections on the remanufactured Bosch. In the process of talking with the owner, he told me that "remanufactured" and "rebuilt" are NOT the same. Check out:

<http://www.a1-alternator.com/terms.html>

He really seems to know his stuff and had my alternator waiting for me when I stopped by today.

So now that makes me wonder about this "remanufactured" Bosch alternator I got from TBD. Oh well, I'll probably either keep it as a spare or hock it at some point.

FWIW, the rebuild was $100 and included brushes, bearings, and most of the guts. The case was glassbeaded and looks almost new and the fan and pulley were glassbeaded and repainted.

I installed it (making sure not to crush any fuel lines in the process) and drove around tonight and it seems to be fine. The Digifant Tool tells me the battery voltage is 13.5.

They key to rebuilding an alternator is to catch it before it self- destructs. Mine was squealing slightly, which turned out to be an indication of a bearing starting to spin...the guy showed me how the bearing positioning tab was sheared. If you let it go beyond that, it's not worth rebuilding. He felt that I would not have made it more than a few hundred on this one, which would have probably meant being stranded on the road somewhere (not terrible since I had a spare, but no fun nonetheless).

-Karl

Karl and Kristina Bloss, Trexlertown, PA '87 GL Weekender "Beverley" Mechanic list: http://www.enter.net/~bloss/vw/vwshops Busses by the Trail - Oct 15-17, 1999: http://www.enter.net/~bloss/vw/bbtt PA/NJ Vanagon owner's mailing list: http://www.onelist.com/subscribe/pavanagon


Back to: Top of message | Previous page | Main VANAGON page

Please note - During the past 17 years of operation, several gigabytes of Vanagon mail messages have been archived. Searching the entire collection will take up to five minutes to complete. Please be patient!


Return to the archives @ gerry.vanagon.com


The vanagon mailing list archives are copyright (c) 1994-2011, and may not be reproduced without the express written permission of the list administrators. Posting messages to this mailing list grants a license to the mailing list administrators to reproduce the message in a compilation, either printed or electronic. All compilations will be not-for-profit, with any excess proceeds going to the Vanagon mailing list.

Any profits from list compilations go exclusively towards the management and operation of the Vanagon mailing list and vanagon mailing list web site.