I had to replace the alternator on my Astro.
1. Got a rebuilt from Autozone, put it on and the headlights flicker, the voltmeter flickers, it has to have a bad diode or stator winding.
2. Got a replacement rebuild, it doesn't work at all.
3. Got another replacement rebuild, yay it works!
4. Kinda. Every so often this alternator goes up to ~20 volts. I shut the van off start it, shut it off, start it... after a dozen or so iterations it's back to normal.
5. But it's intermittent, most of the time it's okay, just that occasionally it goes into 'let's fry the electronics' mode.
6. Back at AutoZone they said no more, and they gave me a complete refund — I couldn't get my core back since it had already been sent off but they did give me the core deposit.
7. At this point I had already decided to get a new alternator rather than a rebuild. I looked on Amazon and I could buy a brand new ACDelco alternator for less than the amount AutoZone refunded me.
8. The new alternator was not the same, it is larger, higher amperage, so I had to replace the serpentine belt with a slightly longer one.
But now it's working great and it only took me 23 days!
1. Got a rebuilt from Autozone, put it on and the headlights flicker, the voltmeter flickers, it has to have a bad diode or stator winding.
2. Got a replacement rebuild, it doesn't work at all.
3. Got another replacement rebuild, yay it works!
4. Kinda. Every so often this alternator goes up to ~20 volts. I shut the van off start it, shut it off, start it... after a dozen or so iterations it's back to normal.
5. But it's intermittent, most of the time it's okay, just that occasionally it goes into 'let's fry the electronics' mode.
6. Back at AutoZone they said no more, and they gave me a complete refund — I couldn't get my core back since it had already been sent off but they did give me the core deposit.
7. At this point I had already decided to get a new alternator rather than a rebuild. I looked on Amazon and I could buy a brand new ACDelco alternator for less than the amount AutoZone refunded me.
8. The new alternator was not the same, it is larger, higher amperage, so I had to replace the serpentine belt with a slightly longer one.
But now it's working great and it only took me 23 days!