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45 Posts
My alternator has slowly been dying in my '97 4DR FWD, but it has been polite enough to stay functional long enough that replacing it is optional with money from this years tax return, rather than a critical repair on my daily commuter. The battery slowly drains and every 3-4 weeks I throw it on the charger for a few hours once I start noticing a slight sluggishness at start up.
Trying to decide if going to a 90 amp alternator instead of an 80 amp is worth the slight bit of extra money (~$20 or so)? I am planning to add some extra circuits to power extra USB and 12V outlets, but not adding any really heavy load equipment (no thumping stereos in my vehicles, thank you very much).
Still trying to decide if I am going to do this myself in my very limited free time, or if I will take it over to the local VoTech school to have their students replace it at the cost of parts and $15 per hour shop time.
I love this little truck, I've had it almost a year and the faults are minor inconveniences so far, I have at least 1 door switch that always registers as door closed, and at least 1 more switch that shows always open, if I end up having to replace 4 of the 5 switches (front passenger is known good) it will probably run more than replacing the alternator looks like it will run.
I keep the tires inflated at around 38 PSI, gives the stiffer ride I like and I am getting around 25 MPG (calculated at each total filling, consistently between the low 24's and mid 26's, much of the driving at 60MPH +). My girlfriend grumbles about this, her truck only gets around 12-13 MPG, a Dodge 2500 super duty 4x with a big diesel, usually towing her mobile dog grooming trailer.
Rob Lewis in Sunny Arizona (if I could I would gladly trade a few hours of cold and cloudy weather for several weeks of our sunny and highs in the mid-upper 80's weather).
Trying to decide if going to a 90 amp alternator instead of an 80 amp is worth the slight bit of extra money (~$20 or so)? I am planning to add some extra circuits to power extra USB and 12V outlets, but not adding any really heavy load equipment (no thumping stereos in my vehicles, thank you very much).
Still trying to decide if I am going to do this myself in my very limited free time, or if I will take it over to the local VoTech school to have their students replace it at the cost of parts and $15 per hour shop time.
I love this little truck, I've had it almost a year and the faults are minor inconveniences so far, I have at least 1 door switch that always registers as door closed, and at least 1 more switch that shows always open, if I end up having to replace 4 of the 5 switches (front passenger is known good) it will probably run more than replacing the alternator looks like it will run.
I keep the tires inflated at around 38 PSI, gives the stiffer ride I like and I am getting around 25 MPG (calculated at each total filling, consistently between the low 24's and mid 26's, much of the driving at 60MPH +). My girlfriend grumbles about this, her truck only gets around 12-13 MPG, a Dodge 2500 super duty 4x with a big diesel, usually towing her mobile dog grooming trailer.
Rob Lewis in Sunny Arizona (if I could I would gladly trade a few hours of cold and cloudy weather for several weeks of our sunny and highs in the mid-upper 80's weather).