I was wondering what you guys think of Durlast’s Alternators, I just bought one and plan on installing it after work. In all of your guys experience do they hold up well? Or is it better to just stick with the Ford OEM ? Oh, well figure I’d give it a go! Always have that autozone lifetime warranty 
Should say, in all who have used said product.
Duralast from Autozone works fine–if it craps, take it in and they’ll give you another (wash out any mud first)
Just curious, what’s their parts warranty policy exactly for alternators? Does this mean if the alternator ever fails AZ will replace it with a new (or rebuilt) one? Do they cover labor, or just replacing the part? Does that apply only to alternators, or to other parts, like water pumps and starter motors? How do they determine the part has failed or something else has failed?
I will check the receipt when I get the chance, but I believe if it fails you can take it back and they’ll give you either a replacement or refund as long as you have your receipt from the date of purchase ( on just the part only) ( I got one that was remanufactured). I’m not sure if the same applies to their water pumps and such.
Even if it only applies to alternators, still a pretty good deal. Alternators are pretty easy to replace, so not covering labor isn’t much of an issue w/that part. The major downside if one fails, it might leave you stranded. There’s probably a very unusual failure mode w/alternators which could damage other electronics in the car, but that’s not something I’d lose much sleep over as long as the charging and battery voltages measured reasonable for the first week or so.
Autozone’s lifetime warranty is return the defective part and they’ll give you a new part. I haven’t had to do an alternator yet, but plenty of brake pads. They fight like heck to replace rotors under warranty (usually only a 2 or 3 year warranty depending on which rotors you get)
From a professional standpoint . . .
I’m not a fan of ANY storebrand rebuilt electrical items, such as starters and alternators
Every time we got one “in a pinch” because the vehicle had to be ready asap, we ended up regretting it, because the part(s) didn’t last very long.
I watched my colleague go through FOUR alternators before he finally got one that actually worked
And they were for a Ford, coincidentally
Don’t be surprised if the alternator lasts 3 years or less
There are lots of choices in between storebrand and dealer, by the way. It doesn’t have to be one extreme or the other
I’m a fan of using a local auto electric shop for repairs to things like alternators and starters.
How much did they charge to rebuild your parts?
I went with Durlast simply because on this particular car it’s about 15 minutes to swap em and I figured if it keeps breaking on me I can just get a refund and go a different route. The one that was pulled out was a motorcraft alternator. So If I could have it rebuilt for a reasonable price I’d consider it to keep around as a spare.
AutoZone opened up here in 1991. I’ve bought various starters/alternators from them ever since that time and have never had any issues at all.
Two of my current cars have Duralast alternators and they’re both Fords.
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Love em, /betta than stock/ alternator is next ;] 4th battery
If you can do the rebuild, keep the core. Maybe return it next year.
No problems with Duralast alternators. Put one on my wife’s Vue about 3 years ago.
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I’ve had a local shop replace a pulley-with-clutch on my 2007 Town and Country’s alternator; they charged $52. The bad OEM clutch was causing noises. A couple years later the alternator quit working and I found one at a junkyard for $42, if I returned my non-functioning one. The auto electric shop put my pulley on the used alternator and tested it and found it working well, at no charge, and I took the bad one back to the junkyard.
The auto electric shops I’ve visited over the years are examples of locally-owned non-corporate businesses where expertise and customer service exist in humble-looking surroundings.The above mentioned one is around the corner from the junkyard. There are parts on shelves that probably have been there for years while their boxes slowly sag and fade and dust accumulates. Their customer base is probably dealerships and repair shops and DIYers, who bring in parts to be repaired.
What I especially like about them is the opportunity to get my OEM parts fixed by people who know what they are doing and have the facilities to test the parts. I know the history of the parts I bring in, and I generally trust OEM components over most aftermarket stuff. More than a few times here I’ve read of electrical parts being bad out of the box.
Despite the above, I did install a rebuilt starter motor from O’Reilly’s a few years ago. I needed to get it replaced over the weekend - not enough time to leave the bad one at the auto electric shop. No problems with that one.
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Thanks for the information
But I was hoping you would tell me how much they charged for an overhaul . . .
I suspect George will probably add something to this . . .
That junkyard alternator you brought to the shop for testing . . . was it an “unmolested” mopar part, or one that had already been rebuilt?
I see a lot of guys at pick a part on 1/2 price weekends, specifically looking for alternators and starters that have clearly already been rebuilt.
I have not had an overhaul done. AFAIK the used one was unmolested.
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This is sort of unrelated to current post, but can an alternator still “test” good if the voltage regulator is going bad? Reason I ask is because on the old alternator I replaced I had it and the battery tested (multiple times) and both tested within the normal perimeters of what is considered normal for the battery/alternator. the battery light kept coming on intermittently while driving. Finally my mechanic had said that the alternator was bad so that’s why I went with the fix.
1998 Ford Crown Victoria LX
80,000 miles
I’ll echo that. I’ve had problems w/store brand rebuilt starters several times for my Corolla. Two of them simply didn’t work right out of the box. I’ve had much better luck w/Denso or Toyota branded rebuilt starters. My best result has been to have the local auto electric shop fix the existing starter for me.
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