Hey, looking for some help. Recently my alternator died on my 2003 Cooper S. The dealership is trying to charge nearly $700 on the part alone, for a remanufactured unit. Obviously I could get this on my own for much cheaper.

Does anyone have any recommendations on which alternator to purchase?
There are some rebuilt units for as low as $60 online.

My other question is, the dealership seemed rather displeased when I asked if I could provide my own part. They said said that they would install it for $350, but couldn't guarantee that it would work properly. Has anyone had any experience doing this? I'm afraid they will come back at me and say that it "doesn't fit" or its "not working"

Thanks for everyone's help

 

A few folks have gone through 2 or 3 internet cheapies to get a good one.....
a non dealee shop should be able to get you a remanfactured unit and install it for much less, with a warrenty. Getting most shops, especially a dealer to install a cary in part is gonna,be tough.....not only is the parts their main profit, but you are paying dealer prices to get the 2 year warrenty...and the swap that includes labour....
If you buy a unit, many "lifetime warrenty" parts are junk..hate to say it....cheap part, but if you diy it...again, and again, and again....you get the picture....some places sell them with different levels of voltage regulators...a ok, better, best....since labour is your MAIN expense, buying anything but the best part is a waste.
A local shop that installs a decent part they will their name on might run you closer to $350 plus about half the hourly rate for the install....

 

I'm in the same boat. 115k on the Mini and my alternator is toast. I have been reading that any options other than the Denso alternator purchased from the dealer will fail. It might take a day, a week, or a month, but will fail.

I have called 3 stealers and prices range from $700 to $800 for the part alone. You say that the Dealer part is a reman?? I thought the high price was because it was brand new. If I end up going the Denso reman route, I'll probably go through Rockauto.com

As far as the dealer not wanting to install a part you supply, I am not surprised. I have asked the same of independent mechanics and I got the same thing back about not guaranteeing the part would work and not being motivated to do it. The dealer might get a huge profit on the parts in addition to the labor, furthering their lack of motivation to use customer supplied parts.

I definitely do not have $700 to throw down for this right now. So I second your question to the NAM masses: Does anyone have any recommendations on which alternator to purchase?

 

Be very careful buying the cheap aftermarket ones. I've tried them due to cost, but they are not the OEM quality and many times will not make the light go off.
If it helps I do have a couple used ones off wrecked cars that were good.
http://www.waymotorworks.com/used-alternator.html

 

Also, look in your local areas for places that can rebuild units. They can put them on a machine, test them right then and there, as well as when they're done. Just ask what kind of warranty it would come with.

 

I'd go w/ Way's. You can do it yourself. A tensioner tool will speed it up. Put car in service mode to extract the alternator by moving the radiator a bit forward w/o draining coolant or taking hoses off. It's pretty tight but workable.

 

Do I need to be able to raise the front of the car to change out the alternator?

 

In "service mode" you remove the front bumper cover and the actual aluminum bumper...need a ratchet.....it takes a bit of time the first time you do it, but after a couple times is 15-20 to take it appart.
A few folks have said they have done it through the pax side wheel well..by removing the tire, and the liner....might make is much simpler and give you more work even in service mode.
The front/ underside of the car has lots of shields, covers to remove...a 10mm socket will fit most of those if i remember right.
an amternator swap might not be a bad diy, but it might nit make a good first one since it is best for a person who has done service mode before, and swapped a belt ....
Could do it, just keep in mind, a couple hours for the pro=a full day gor the first time diy'er.
Imo, use a new belt...just another 25-30$, it will be off anyway.
Heck might be a good time to drain and fill the radiator...most folks neglect the cooling system....should be done (the whole cooling system actually) every 3 years, but with everything so acceible in service mode, you can save some $$ on mx.

 

Thanks everyone for all the great advice. I am thinking more and more that this may end up a DIY project.

Another quick question. I have a read that a few people have found that the cables attached to the alternators were loose/detached and fixing the connections solved the problem. Is it possible to get access just to take a look without the full procedure of putting it into service mode?

Thanks again!

 

For any of you who still care, after searching on this forum for a while, I heard some suggestions of checking the F39 fuse in the fuse box underneath the driver side dash. Its a 5V fuse. Turns out the fuse was blown. I replaced it and now everything is back to normal. I tested the Voltage across the battery leads and got the full 14.2 Volts that the alternator should be putting out.

I'm still very skeptical that this fix will last, and whatever caused this fuse to blow in the first place will probably resurface sometime in the near future, but at least I'm pretty sure its not an alternator problem.

Thanks again for everyone's help.

 

Just buy a small pack of 5v fuses, throw them in the glove compartment, and keep on trucking. My MAF fuse would blow anytime I went into reverse, or took off hard in my Camaro, turns out that also is connected to the o2 sensors, and one of them rubbed up against the driveshaft, removing the protective cover, and shorted out on it. took me forever to find it, but I was smart enough to buy the mega pack lol.

 

For alternators, I'm sold on going to a local starter/alternator shop that will rebuild the unit. I replaced 4 alternators in 3 years on an old Lincoln of mine with those crap "guaranteed" units from regular parts stores. IMO, if I'm going to have to replace it every 8 months I'd rather pay more for one with no guarantee and never have to do it again. Took the car to a local starter/alternator shop. It cost $350 (with labor) instead of $60, but it's been 5 years and still hasn't given out.

If you don't have a shop that does that in your town (sadly many of these small businesses are closing because the crappy import parts are so cheap) you can send the unit to the shop I use (friend of mine owns it) and they'll do it for you and ship it back. I don't know about cost or warranty (save the receipt), but you can call B&M Starter & Alternator in Pensacola, FL to check if you want.

I'll never buy a parts-store starter or alternator again.

 

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...pping-why.html
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