Why Did My Truck Eat Two Alternators in One Month?

The title pretty much covers it. The new alternator I just put in my truck appears to have died today. Its a reman from Vatozone. I put my multimeter across the battery's terminals (also new) and got 12.45 volts at idle and while revving the motor. I got basically the same with the truck off. Is this just a case of Vatozone having E36 M3ty parts or is something in my truck causing it to die? I would just take out the alternator and have them check it but doing that involves draining the coolant. Thanks Toyota.

Reman from Vatozone.

"Why Did My Truck Eat Two Alternators in One Month?"

It was hungry?

iceracer wrote: Reman from Vatozone.

sigh

Are they usually this bad? When I said less than a month, I actually meant it lasted 11 days.

What is it for a truck? Lots of vehicles these days the alternator is controlled by the computer, and replacing the alternator won't fix the issue if the problem is somewhere else

Otherwise: original one went kaput, reman was crap, buy a new one

mith612 wrote: What is it for a truck? Lots of vehicles these days the alternator is controlled by the computer, and replacing the alternator won't fix the issue if the problem is somewhere else Otherwise: original one went kaput, reman was crap, buy a new one

Truck is an 87 Toyota with the 22R.

On another site it has been found that remans from the various zones are notoriousy bad.

So would a reman from rockauto be an equally bad choice? If so, how does the collective wisdom of GRM feel about the new NSA alternators? Also, do the alternators from the automatics have the same plugs as the manual trans trucks? Reason I ask is they make 10 more amps.

Because it takes a lot of electrical power to make your older Toyota's accelerator get stuck on the floor?

Seriously though, do you have a stereo or something that would cause an abnormal power drain? A friend of mine expected to kill his replacement alternator quickly with his car's setup. He did. He replaced the second alternator with a newer high-output unit and it has been fine ever since.

Stock tape deck and stock speakers. I do have offroad lights and a HAM radio but I haven't even used these with the new alternator.

Did you replace the belt? My brother changed two alternators and kept the same belt, the third time the alternator tested fine, we changed the belt and haven't had a problem since.

Take it to a local alternator remanufacturer, instead of buying another PepVanceZone reman.

Perhaps it's your belt tensioner then too? If you have too much tension, couldn't it damage the alternator?

Check the charge wire for excessive resistance. My 83 celica and my 85 MR2 went through a couple each because of it.

The belt is brand new, I got a new one with the alternator.

I'm not real familiar with electrical systems, which wire is the charge wire and how do I check the resistance? I bought my first multimeter today as a matter of fact.

Also, my truck reeks of fried electronics. I'm assuming that's the smell of a fried alternator.

It will be the big white wire going from the alternator post to one of the fuse links on the positive battery terminal. set the meter to ohms, and you should see little to no resistance. unhook the battery before you do this too.

so I just touch each end of the wire with the probes on my meter?

You got it.

I went through two in a row on my f150 before getting a good one. First one had a stuck brush, second had a bad regulator that would spike to 20+ volts above certain rpm.

My dads subaru legacy has had 3 kragens replacements in the last year and a half, i think they are just junk most of the time.

My Ranger snorkles one down every time I jump something.

I don't do that any more.

Dan

Cheap remans are that, cheap. Notorious for failing. Some stores are better than others, but all in all, they ain't very good.

Does the alternator use an internal or external voltage regulator? If its external, check it and/or replace it. I fried a couple alts due to a bad external regulator...

I had to take back a Vatozone (I thought I was the only one that used that word) alternator because it was actually coming apart.

I had zero problems with the replacement though.