Quick question: Is it true that alternators go bad just because they're old?? mechanic came by today to take a look at my car and its numerous small problems.. he tells me the alternator is gone bad and is shot just because it's the original one, 12 years old and 217k miles on it.. he also says its probably robbing me of like 5 mpg, which I could see, I am down to like 20 mpg these days and I don't rev past 3k ever..

So is that actually possible that it just goes bad due to age, or am I just being told a pile of crap??

 

If your alternator has gone bad, your battery wouldn't be charging. There are some people who post on here that have all original equipment and they are at 300K.

 

How has your alternator gone bad? Is it not putting out enough voltage? Is the bearing bad and causing resistance for the engine to fight?

 

Yes. Perhaps he's got a boat payment due and he wants you to make it for him. Drive away from this mechanic as fast as you can and find someone who will honestly diagnose your 20mpg/won't-rev-over-3K problems. It ain't your alternator causing them.

 

alright thanks guys I guess I'll run from this guy I guess.. as far as the won't rev past 3k, the car will rev just fine, I just don't do it voluntarily.. I need it to last..

 

I don't really know, none of this was mentioned. Matter of fact, it wasn't checked for voltage or even taken out. Everytime I fire up the engine or turn it off there is slight rattle right at the start and stop and he said that was from the alternator. That was his logic. Then he went on to say these things go bad all the time due to age and that this alternator was original and therefore likely went bad. I guess that wasn't very solid logic??

Maybe I should rip it out myself and have it checked for voltage..

Oh and more interestingly, he plugged in his obd 2 scanner or whatever its called and the check engine light wasn't even on. He said there was a code that popped up. I said the light's not on how's that possible. He went on to explain that there are sometimes codes that are waiting to pop up and this was one of them.. And apparently they don't pop up until the engine is sure something is wrong but his scanner will find such codes..

I didn't actually see the screen on the scanner to see if anything really popped up. I bought what he said but I'm questioning it now..

 

Is this the same guy who told you Short Ram Intakes cause cats to fail?

 

No need to take the alternator out. The big chains will bring a portable tester out to the parking lot and check it for free. Ditto for OBD2 codes, but ask them to not clear any existing codes. You may want that info later.

 

yeah it was.. does that make me a foolish idiot for even having this guy take a look at my car?? no wonder i have managed to get ripped off my whole life.. does that mean this is bad advice again??

@Roader: So I don't have to take out the alternator I guess to have it checked?? I'll drop by an autozone tomorrow and get their opinion on what the deal with the alternator is..

 

I wouldn't be so harsh about it.
But please, stop having him look at your car - he is either a total moron or a scam artist.

You cannot look at an alternator and tell if it works or not.

I have a few spare alts from my off road truck, I promise you that you cannot tell which ones are good and which are bad by looking at them.