When there's a heavy draw on my alternator it cuts out to around 10volts at idle. when I rev the engine it goes up to around 13v. Are these alternators easy & worth rebuilding.

 

Rebuild kits are around 20 dollars and if you have ever taken apart a electric motor its about the same. Very easy to do otherwise if you haven't but are mechanically inclined its no problem.

 

Thanx,
Can I "up the amps" in the rebuild

 

Not unless you have the ability to redo the windings and add more.

 

Yep! Easy as pie to do. Go to www.alternatorparts.com and look at thier selection. An AC Delco alt. reman. is around 200 bucks. Do not waste your time with a PEP boys or other remanufactured unit, unless you want to do it again, and again and again. You can purchase higher amp stators and parts to do a complete rebuild for under 80 bucks. Even if you have NO exxperience the instructions will walk you through the entire job. They also have complete rebuilds for a lot less than GM rebuilds, and I can vouch for thier quality. Danno

 

Yes you can up the current. You will need to know which alt. you have. In 86 according to my info. GM used the older 10Si, and the newer CS type. They are completely DIFFERENT animals and parts are not interchangeable. Voltage drop at idle in traffic with accessories running is pretty normal. If you going to 13 volts when you start to move you are probably OK. Remember one thing, if you bump up to a higher amperage unit your charging current at idle will be LOWER than your current unit if is functioning properly. If you want higher low RPM charging you will have to change the alt. pulley. Take my word for it, it is a bitch! You will need an impact gun to get the retaning nut loose. The stock charging curve GM uses is perfectly fine assuming you keep a good battery in the vehicle. Danno

 

Thanx for the info. Something has to be wrong with the alt, because it drops to 10v. One time ,i left the car idling for about 15min. When I shut it off It was as if I had a dead battery. The car sat for a few more minutes & then started right up.

 

The older 10SI alternators are real easy to rebuild. The newer CS alternators are not worth it. Parts have to be unsoldered just to take the alternator apart.

Sounds like you could have a bad battery. Charge it up and have it load tested.

 

There are only 4 connections that need to be unsoldered and then resoldered. Ever price an AC-Delco remanuf. If one is reasonably handy even a novice should be able to do a rebuild in a couple of hours. I bought the iceberg housing and kit for about 50 bucks. I believe the dealer wanted $265 .

 

Or you could buy a brand new duralast alternator for 125.00 from autozone, with the higher amps and a lifetime warranty..

I'm not sure about pep boys alternators, but I've been using the duralast brand for years without any failing.

-- Joe

 

Thanx everybody,
I just bought an alternator for 70bucks at Autozone. Car voltage is fine now with everything on!

 

Guys, got a buddy who works for a major auto parts retailer. He tells me that returns for thier reman. parts goes as high as 50%. In most cases the only thing you buy at these places is a warranty. Warranties are fine but they don't do much good when you are 50 miles from home running on your battery. The reason the AC-Delco is more money is that they replace basically everything and they are subject to new unit quality control. I got burned a couple of times by rebuilds, that's the only reason I started doing my own.