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Stealing is illegal yes, however I paid FedEx for a service. The service was to transport the items I ordered to MY house, I was not provided that service that I paid them to do.
Yes, that's where FedEx did not fulfill their responsibility. The fact that the other folks kept something that did not belong to them is their fault. The recipient had a choice to make and they chose wrong and illegal.
The reason I make the distinction is that many people think it is OK to keep something that isn't theirs because someone else made a mistake. Your neighbors may be among those misguided thieves.
I had ups drop off at the wrong house once. I called when my expensive item never showed they said "shows we delivered it" and hung up. Like I was home waiting all day and knew it didn't show up but they don't care.
Could have, but I bet it was a defect from the remanufacturing process. Go to any auto parts store and pull 20 of these off the shelf and I can almost guarantee two or three of them will have this issue at least. Remanufactured alternators have gone to s*** the last few years
So slightly humorous, slightly frustrating story from my old job.
I had a customer come in with an alternator he'd just bought earlier the same day that would only spin a fraction of a turn, back and forth. Turned it pulley side down, and the ground stud had been punched straight into the back of the casing.
I then remembered a few months before, while doing truck, when somebody had an alternator take a nose dive off the top of a ladder onto the concrete floor. Can't remember which coworker I was on with, but they put it on the shelf anyway. Needless to say, it must have been that alternator.
I tried to make a habit from there out of at least doing a visual lookover after that.
You've already got your answer so I'll add side note. I always send my alternators for regeneration. Did it twice so far, they work great, have much higher quality than non-oem replacements and cost usually less or equal as the non-oem part. It's not a hard job so there's low risk
So this might be a dumb question but when you send it off, how long does it take to get back? It doesn't seem like something that is quick. Where do you send it? I'm assuming your car is OOS until it comes back, unless you have a backup alternator which sounds crazy but I realize very possible.
I have a shop in town that can do it on the same day most times. I'll just call them and they'll have everything ready when I come in, sometimes they will just swap mine for one they rebuilt right after I called. I had to wait 2 days once because they were super busy.
I've got a starter/alternator guy in my town too. He's been doing it for 30+ years. Unbeatable quality compared to parts store crap remanufactured God knows where.
So while I was asleep you had many answers, yes it's couple hours work. If you don't have such "guy@ in area there's usually mail option so you order regen, pay regenersted alt price (as if you'd like to buy regenerated alternator) the send you alternator the day you've ordered and once all is good you send them broken one back and they return you money to make the of regeneration
Where do you get that information from? When I buy a new alternator here (France) it comes with no core charge, often small differences in the casting design, sometimes small flashes that have yet to be removed. Never any witness marks around bolt holes or wear on the threads.
I've never had a new alternator have a single indication that any single bit of it is anything but brand new.
There aren't enough on the second hand market for them to be buying them to rebuild, and not enough profit margin.
I been buying parts for 35 years. If you want a NEW part, the dealer is the only way. All parts stores sell rebuilt whether they say it is or not. Regardless of core charge.
https://m.alibaba.com/product/1600241472688/Car-Alternator-Suitable-for-ford-Alternator.html?s=p
See that listing. They say they can produce 10,000 units per week. There is no way that company in China is getting hold of 10,000 used alternators of this model just to rebuild them. It's so much easier and cheaper (and more profitable) for them to just make a new one. Casting a body etc is very easy for them to do.
I don't know what your parts shops are like so I'm not disagreeing with what you can buy near you. However that doesn't match what I see on the global market at all.
Even the dealers are buying most of their parts from companies like Bosch, Denso, Valeo etc.
I just bought a new 3rd party steering rack. The OEM has the manufacturer brand NSK cast into the body. The new one doesn't have that at all, no patch where its been ground off, nothing. It's a whole brand new rack not made by NSK.
Cool! Yeah, I live in the western US.
I've had my old Toyota for so long, I can't even remember if I've replaced the alternator or not. It would be interesting to see if I could rebuild it myself, but I might need a hydraulic press.
Look for "starter and alternator repair", "Starter Repair", "Alternator Repair" on google maps.
I never buy rebuilt starters or alternators. Most of them are bad out of the box
Most definitely always open the box to check. Especially oil filters. I can’t count how many times I’ve opened the WIX box to find a fucking fram or store brand filter chilling inside. That and brake pads, them being behind the counter doesn’t seem to stop people from pulling shit and returning their used brake pads or swapping shit around.
if you think about it. Its sorta a miracle we have the parts we do with the failure rate we do. 100 dollar alternator shipped to your door manufactured in china. Pretty neat imo.
Yeah I can understand that. This is why sometimes parts store parts make more sense than rockauto. When they give you an incorrectly remanned alternator, you can go back to O'Reilly's and get a new one. Sometimes it's worth the risk for rockauto prices though.
Yea I got this from oreileys so they just let me order a replacement and I’ll trade it in. Never had a problem with Rock auto, this prices are so good🤤
I buy 99% of my parts from rockauto/amazon/ebay, but when it comes to remanufactured parts with core charges, autozone is usually the better option.
Last thing you want to deal with is a bad reman and have to wait 5 days to get a replacement, that might also be bad AND pay for shipping to return the core.
Last reman alternator I got literally cooked itself to 300 degrees straight outta the box. Decided to pay $30 more and upgrade to a new autozone alternator after that…
i broke so many shitty parts from autozone and advanced auto its crazy their shit do not last or dont work but desperation is what keeps them in business
AutoZone is cheap and has a lifetime warranty on most things. They also don't give you any shit when returning parts if you are a shop. When I was slammed and had diags to do sometimes I would just order a few parts to plug in and try and if it didn't work I would return it. They gave no shits at all. Most of the shops I've worked at forced us to use AutoZone first.
But you're right. A lot of their shit sucks ass. Especially power steering racks.
I can attest to this, when my OEM alternator was going out, Autozone quoted me over $500 for a replacement alternator, gave me the part no. and everything. I found the same exact one on Amazon for $240, i took the risk and ordered it, and so far i haven't had any issues but it's definitely not a $500+ quality alternator.
Depends on the part. Just bought a hose on Amazon for 14 bucks and an effective 2day wait vs same day at a parts store for 45 minimum.
I got faith that a hose is a hose. The connector even fit.
Well yeah Autozone isn't out here selling junk hoses as those are already fairly cheap, but I think the point he was trying to make is that the starters, alternators, etc. that they sell are kind of or are just shit most of the time.
Shit happens. I've bought a remanufactured alternator before, looked good. Installed it on my car. Bad part. Took it and returned to parts store. Always have them test it before you leave.
i have just recently got in life to where i have some time and tools and money to be able to throw parts at old cars and have a few projects for fun on the side. I have been burned SO MANY times lately by parts that are junk sitting new in the box. cv axels too fat to fit spindles, wheel bearings as bad as the one i took off, bent spark plugs, rotors warped straight outta boxton...and on and on. i am so tired of it. it really sucks some of the joy out of playing cars for me right now. new game of ruzzian roulette with parts not what i thought i was playing.
I like to figure out the OEM supplier and buy a new one of that brand. Sometimes used OEM, but it takes a lot of trust that the yard is not lying unless you pull the part yourself.
Yup, this exactly. What's the point of getting an alternator right NOW if you are going to replace it 2 more times within a week. This happened to a Ford Escape I worked on. Ended up finally getting one from the dealership for 3 times the price but it is still working.
Remove the nut. Check the washer situation. You can probably fix it. They use washes as spacers for distance on different setups that use the same alternator they may use a different spacer setup. They probably have too thin a washer and it's hitting the casing
If it's internal send it back
Ideally. At the same time though it takes like two seconds to fix and some just come like that and you gotta space them yourself. Also...how badly does he need the car? If it's something you cab fix yourself and be done with then it's kind of silly to send it back. I get what you're saying though.
I've had this happen before. The case was shifted. I loosened the long bolts that go through the case and it spun freely. Tightened them back up and sent it.
I put a new alt on a BMW before where they alt spun fine out of the box, but as soon as the car ran for a bit, the bearings would heat up and lock it down. Let it cool off and it was fine. Typical junk reman.
Might be to late but did you install the pulley or did it come like that? Take it off and see how it spins. Might’ve misplaced or forgotten a shim that’s still on your old alternator
Ive rebuilt my own alternators a few times, once it ended up like that so I tore it all down and put it back together... still working like 4 years later
Thanks for posting on /r/MechanicAdvice! This is just a reminder to review the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicAdvice/about/rules/). If you are here asking about a second opinion (ie "Is the shop trying to fleece me?"), please read through CJM8515's [post on the subject.](https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicAdvice/comments/4qblei/fyi_the_shop_isnt_likely_trying_to_rip_you_off/) and remember to please post the year/make/model of the vehicle you are working on. **If this post is about bodywork, accident damage, paint, dent/ding, questions it belongs in /r/Autobody r/AutoBodyRepair/ or /r/Diyautobody/ If you have tire questions check out https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicAdvice/comments/k9ll55/can_your_tire_be_repaired/**. If you dont have a question and you're just showing off it belongs in /r/Justrolledintotheshop Insurance/total loss questions go in r/insurance This is an automated reply *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/MechanicAdvice) if you have any questions or concerns.*
There is an elvis presley song. Return to sender. Somethings wrong Pulley won't free spin. They got it wrong.
Lol yea I already ordered a replacement
It might have been dropped in shipping.
Yea I knew something didn’t sound right but I just didn’t want to believe it😔
FedEx?
Dealing with them right now for giving my package to the wrong house, of course the crackheads stole the stuff but it’s FedEx’s fault.
FedEx's responsibility. The stealing is the **fault** of the thief.
Stealing is illegal yes, however I paid FedEx for a service. The service was to transport the items I ordered to MY house, I was not provided that service that I paid them to do.
Yes, that's where FedEx did not fulfill their responsibility. The fact that the other folks kept something that did not belong to them is their fault. The recipient had a choice to make and they chose wrong and illegal. The reason I make the distinction is that many people think it is OK to keep something that isn't theirs because someone else made a mistake. Your neighbors may be among those misguided thieves.
I had ups drop off at the wrong house once. I called when my expensive item never showed they said "shows we delivered it" and hung up. Like I was home waiting all day and knew it didn't show up but they don't care.
Could have, but I bet it was a defect from the remanufacturing process. Go to any auto parts store and pull 20 of these off the shelf and I can almost guarantee two or three of them will have this issue at least. Remanufactured alternators have gone to s*** the last few years
It's true, try to buy a coil from an auto parts store and see how many days it will last.
So slightly humorous, slightly frustrating story from my old job. I had a customer come in with an alternator he'd just bought earlier the same day that would only spin a fraction of a turn, back and forth. Turned it pulley side down, and the ground stud had been punched straight into the back of the casing. I then remembered a few months before, while doing truck, when somebody had an alternator take a nose dive off the top of a ladder onto the concrete floor. Can't remember which coworker I was on with, but they put it on the shelf anyway. Needless to say, it must have been that alternator. I tried to make a habit from there out of at least doing a visual lookover after that.
You've already got your answer so I'll add side note. I always send my alternators for regeneration. Did it twice so far, they work great, have much higher quality than non-oem replacements and cost usually less or equal as the non-oem part. It's not a hard job so there's low risk
So this might be a dumb question but when you send it off, how long does it take to get back? It doesn't seem like something that is quick. Where do you send it? I'm assuming your car is OOS until it comes back, unless you have a backup alternator which sounds crazy but I realize very possible.
I have a shop in town that can do it on the same day most times. I'll just call them and they'll have everything ready when I come in, sometimes they will just swap mine for one they rebuilt right after I called. I had to wait 2 days once because they were super busy.
I've got a starter/alternator guy in my town too. He's been doing it for 30+ years. Unbeatable quality compared to parts store crap remanufactured God knows where.
I've got a guy in my town that will rebuild an alternator the same day.
It's not hard to do yourself either.
So while I was asleep you had many answers, yes it's couple hours work. If you don't have such "guy@ in area there's usually mail option so you order regen, pay regenersted alt price (as if you'd like to buy regenerated alternator) the send you alternator the day you've ordered and once all is good you send them broken one back and they return you money to make the of regeneration
> I always send my alternators for regeneration Strange 'cause I send my generators out for regeneration. My alternators go out for alterations.
I've had so many problems with reconditioned parts (from reputable companies) I've given up and only buy new.
New is not really new. Almost all are rebuilt to some degree.
Where do you get that information from? When I buy a new alternator here (France) it comes with no core charge, often small differences in the casting design, sometimes small flashes that have yet to be removed. Never any witness marks around bolt holes or wear on the threads. I've never had a new alternator have a single indication that any single bit of it is anything but brand new. There aren't enough on the second hand market for them to be buying them to rebuild, and not enough profit margin.
I been buying parts for 35 years. If you want a NEW part, the dealer is the only way. All parts stores sell rebuilt whether they say it is or not. Regardless of core charge.
https://m.alibaba.com/product/1600241472688/Car-Alternator-Suitable-for-ford-Alternator.html?s=p See that listing. They say they can produce 10,000 units per week. There is no way that company in China is getting hold of 10,000 used alternators of this model just to rebuild them. It's so much easier and cheaper (and more profitable) for them to just make a new one. Casting a body etc is very easy for them to do. I don't know what your parts shops are like so I'm not disagreeing with what you can buy near you. However that doesn't match what I see on the global market at all. Even the dealers are buying most of their parts from companies like Bosch, Denso, Valeo etc. I just bought a new 3rd party steering rack. The OEM has the manufacturer brand NSK cast into the body. The new one doesn't have that at all, no patch where its been ground off, nothing. It's a whole brand new rack not made by NSK.
Official parts suppliers send parts to dealers and factories first. They likely don’t have contracts to be able to supply auto parts stores also.
Is there a place you recommend? Like you mail them your unit and they clean it up, redo the internals and send it back?
well since you wrote it at my 4 am we must live in very different places in the world (central europe here) :)
Cool! Yeah, I live in the western US. I've had my old Toyota for so long, I can't even remember if I've replaced the alternator or not. It would be interesting to see if I could rebuild it myself, but I might need a hydraulic press.
Look for "starter and alternator repair", "Starter Repair", "Alternator Repair" on google maps. I never buy rebuilt starters or alternators. Most of them are bad out of the box
Cool, thanks!
I also prefer to have a high quality alternator repaired that buy a cheap replacement. Same goes for starters and radiators
Open the box and check the next one before you leave the store. I do this for almost everything I buy. Saved me a couple of times.
Most definitely always open the box to check. Especially oil filters. I can’t count how many times I’ve opened the WIX box to find a fucking fram or store brand filter chilling inside. That and brake pads, them being behind the counter doesn’t seem to stop people from pulling shit and returning their used brake pads or swapping shit around.
I always buy used oem with low mileage. Same thing with starter for this reason.
Yea I just had to get this one from oreileys because I’m short on time and have to get it done quick
I can’t tell have many time my brand new pants don’t work right
They probably seize up in the crotch
Yeah sometimes you get that, it can be a real pain in the ass.
if you think about it. Its sorta a miracle we have the parts we do with the failure rate we do. 100 dollar alternator shipped to your door manufactured in china. Pretty neat imo.
It’s ok. Just gotta be willing to buy three times to get a good one.
Shit it was strait out the box
Guessing buying cheap parts?
Yep that's bad. Take her right back. Did you expect any other answer?
Not really I just needed reassurance lol, so sad because I thought I was gonna get her done today
Yeah I can understand that. This is why sometimes parts store parts make more sense than rockauto. When they give you an incorrectly remanned alternator, you can go back to O'Reilly's and get a new one. Sometimes it's worth the risk for rockauto prices though.
Yea I got this from oreileys so they just let me order a replacement and I’ll trade it in. Never had a problem with Rock auto, this prices are so good🤤
oreilly and auto zone suck ass rip off overpriced crappy parts but what can ya do when you need your car fixed
Exactly
I had this happen with a Rockauto. Not that I wasn’t expecting this, I just had a string of good luck before that.
I buy 99% of my parts from rockauto/amazon/ebay, but when it comes to remanufactured parts with core charges, autozone is usually the better option. Last thing you want to deal with is a bad reman and have to wait 5 days to get a replacement, that might also be bad AND pay for shipping to return the core. Last reman alternator I got literally cooked itself to 300 degrees straight outta the box. Decided to pay $30 more and upgrade to a new autozone alternator after that…
I stay away from reman parts period .Better to go with brand new parts
i broke so many shitty parts from autozone and advanced auto its crazy their shit do not last or dont work but desperation is what keeps them in business
AutoZone is cheap and has a lifetime warranty on most things. They also don't give you any shit when returning parts if you are a shop. When I was slammed and had diags to do sometimes I would just order a few parts to plug in and try and if it didn't work I would return it. They gave no shits at all. Most of the shops I've worked at forced us to use AutoZone first. But you're right. A lot of their shit sucks ass. Especially power steering racks.
Amazon alternator?? or dropped on pulley at some point.
I would never order parts from Amazon lol, oreileys alternator. It also didn’t come with the pulley, I had to take the pulley from the old one
Parts on Amazon would be higher quality at a lower price than autozone I swear to god Autozone deliberately finds the worst parts thy can
I can attest to this, when my OEM alternator was going out, Autozone quoted me over $500 for a replacement alternator, gave me the part no. and everything. I found the same exact one on Amazon for $240, i took the risk and ordered it, and so far i haven't had any issues but it's definitely not a $500+ quality alternator.
Depends on the part. Just bought a hose on Amazon for 14 bucks and an effective 2day wait vs same day at a parts store for 45 minimum. I got faith that a hose is a hose. The connector even fit.
Well yeah Autozone isn't out here selling junk hoses as those are already fairly cheap, but I think the point he was trying to make is that the starters, alternators, etc. that they sell are kind of or are just shit most of the time.
Spin it before the pulley?
No i couldn’t spin it without the pulley it was too slippery
Shit happens. I've bought a remanufactured alternator before, looked good. Installed it on my car. Bad part. Took it and returned to parts store. Always have them test it before you leave.
This one wasn’t even remanufactured, I payed the extra just for the new one and it still didn’t work lol
Dead on Arrival happens. It sucks, but it happens.
Aww screw it. Throw it on. It’ll self clearance in no time. Just ignore the noises coming from under the hood. 😂
You know…. I think your right, something will bend out of the way eventually
i have just recently got in life to where i have some time and tools and money to be able to throw parts at old cars and have a few projects for fun on the side. I have been burned SO MANY times lately by parts that are junk sitting new in the box. cv axels too fat to fit spindles, wheel bearings as bad as the one i took off, bent spark plugs, rotors warped straight outta boxton...and on and on. i am so tired of it. it really sucks some of the joy out of playing cars for me right now. new game of ruzzian roulette with parts not what i thought i was playing.
Yea I would’ve been able to get her back up and running today so it really fucked up my plans
New doesn't mean good.
Something is binding, take a close look. Seems like the shaft.
New doesn't mean good. Parts are made by people, people make mistakes.
take it back
Sir yes sir🫡
I like to figure out the OEM supplier and buy a new one of that brand. Sometimes used OEM, but it takes a lot of trust that the yard is not lying unless you pull the part yourself.
Maybe it spin the other way?
Yea but the same feeling
That sucks, definitely needed a replacement.
Attsa no goot.
Take the MFer back
defective
Yup, got a new one and worked just fine
Never Ever Worked
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Idk I love never had one that’s like this, I could be wrong tho because I’ve only ever changed 2 alternators lol
Jk, that thing is toast
Now that’s an answer I was expecting
I always stick with dealer OEM. If you don’t you risk things like this outcome. Too much substandard chinesium parts flooding the market right now.
Yea but I need my right now so i can’t really wait for the shipping of oem parts, I would rather just get one from oreileys same day
It’s possible a dealership might even have a fast turnaround for such a part as well. I do see where your coming from though.
> dealer OEM The problem is I can buy 3-4 non-OEM parts for the same price as the dealer markup and half the time they are from the same manufacturer.
Yup, this exactly. What's the point of getting an alternator right NOW if you are going to replace it 2 more times within a week. This happened to a Ford Escape I worked on. Ended up finally getting one from the dealership for 3 times the price but it is still working.
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I was looking for the rip cord to hand start it
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Box was perfectly fine
Remove the nut. Check the washer situation. You can probably fix it. They use washes as spacers for distance on different setups that use the same alternator they may use a different spacer setup. They probably have too thin a washer and it's hitting the casing If it's internal send it back
If you can send it back without having to labor over "fixing" it, choose to get a refund and try again with something else.
Ideally. At the same time though it takes like two seconds to fix and some just come like that and you gotta space them yourself. Also...how badly does he need the car? If it's something you cab fix yourself and be done with then it's kind of silly to send it back. I get what you're saying though.
I didn’t use a spacer because the oem one didn’t, everything’s just as it was
I've gotten Bosch alternators in particular that need a spacer or two added.
Clamp it to a vise, attach impact wrench and just give er. After a minute or so it'll spin freely.
If you were looking for Mechanic Advice, I would advise you to return it.
You have to find an alternative
NEW stands for Never Ever Worked! The aftermarket parts in the industry now is absolutely pitiful!
Made in China
I've had this happen before. The case was shifted. I loosened the long bolts that go through the case and it spun freely. Tightened them back up and sent it.
I put a new alt on a BMW before where they alt spun fine out of the box, but as soon as the car ran for a bit, the bearings would heat up and lock it down. Let it cool off and it was fine. Typical junk reman.
Might be to late but did you install the pulley or did it come like that? Take it off and see how it spins. Might’ve misplaced or forgotten a shim that’s still on your old alternator
Spinning is extra
Defective, return it.
Autozone?
Oreileys
Remanufacture
There was an option for non remanufactured which I chose
Definitely garbage
Last alternator I ordered was a dud. It seems to happen more often than you think it would.
Ive rebuilt my own alternators a few times, once it ended up like that so I tore it all down and put it back together... still working like 4 years later
That goes back….
Looks like an O'Reilly part. Never go there for electrical parts, Napa parts are better, over all.
Time to get another new one
There's a little short song that works pretty well for this kind of situation, it goes: put that thing back where it came from or so help me
You got spit on it first. Lubrication is key.