alternator rebuilding-78 280Z

[One Way]

With  all the years of owning vehicles and doing most of the repairs myself, I have never had an alternator apart.  A trip to the local parts store to buy a remanufactured alternator and leaving the old one for the core has always been my solution.  On the 78 Z resurrection project that is slowly progressing I believe it is the factory original alternator still with the vehicle.  The blue label-INTERNAL REGULATOR-was still on the unit before spraying some degreaser on the alternator.  Just thought it would be neat to keep the original unit with the car and was quite surprised to find the brush assy/ voltage regulator part still available as a separate part.  The bearings are standard parts as well.  I have the unit disassembled and pretty clean and looks as though there are just 3 solder joints to the regulator/ brush assy.  Just looking for any tips or suggestions from the Z experts.  Reman units are very inexpensive and hard to determine what exactly "REMANUFACTURED" means. Cleaned? New bearings?  New brushes? or just a cleaning and a quick test to see if it is charging?  Any help will be greatly appreciated, John-Lugoff, SC.

[Zed Head]

42 minutes ago, One Way said:

 hard to determine what exactly "REMANUFACTURED" means. Cleaned? New bearings?  New brushes? or just a cleaning and a quick test to see if it is charging?  Any help will be greatly appreciated, John-Lugoff, SC.

I have a Bosch reman and it came with a label that said every electrical part was tested and if it met specs it was reused.  They're generally poorly reman'ed.  Lots of failures soon after buying.

An attempt at a rebuild would be interesting.  Has yours failed or are you planning ahead?

[Dave WM]

outside of toasted wires, seem like the only difficult part would be how to address the commutator, if its scored up it would be an issue. I recall working on small electric motors for RC cars and Planes they were brushed with segmented comms (DC motors) and it was common practice to use a small lathe to dress copper. I assume that would be a good idea with the solid comms on alternators, but you would need a full size lathe to do it right. Suppose you could just spin it and try some kind of abrasive cloth but the idea was to get the comm true so it would make full contact with the brushes. would be interesting to take a reman apart and examine that area.

Edited September 18, 2018 by Dave WM

[One Way]

I am just planning ahead on the project and just thought it would be nice to have the factory original unit still in place.  I am an assistant manager at a nation wide 5,000 plus store company and we do offer 1 year warranty remans, lifetime warranty remans, as well as new units on some applications.  For the obvious reasons a new unit is not offered for the Z, but a lifetime reman is available.  We changed suppliers for our reman electrical components about 2 years ago due to a high rate of failures.  The new supplier has been much better quality but details are very vague about what actually gets replaced.  Just thought it might be an interesting challenge to attempt but have no experience in rebuilding alternators.  The commutator looks real nice, brushes still intact, bearings still free, but unit was covered in grime and the pulley pretty rusty.  The last time this car was running according to the seller, as well as the inspection tag still on the window was 1996.  20 years of use and 20 years of sitting.  Neither one a good option.  Keep the helpful tips coming and I will continue to do some more research.  Thanks again, John-Lugoff, SC.  Thankful to the LORD for sparing us from the main fury of the hurricane and praying to the LORD for those who lost so much due to the storm.

[siteunseen]

Another new reman alternator failed from advance auto today for me.  I bought a reman a couple of years ago for my 240. As soon as I turned the key to on it popped the fuse, no gauges no nothing. Today I get another one for Mom's car, failed after installing July 2015.  Asked them to test the new one, they rolled their eyes but I said this isn't like changing out a battery or light bulb TEST IT! please.  4 times the machine kicked a breaker/reset.  They said the alternator was good that their machine was bad.  But it worked fine failing the old one so I got a little upset and showed my arse a little bit.  He carried it across the street to an AutoZone and had them test it, FAILED.  Went to another advance across town and had one of theirs tested.  Passed with all green OKs.

Lesson i learned today, always have the new stuff tested before I leave the store.  I'm joining the club of reman stuff sucks!

[black gold man]

Send a OEM here and it will be right. maybe 80 bucks with shipping.  Or look for shop near you. https://www.google.com/search?tbm=lcl&ei=9SGoW8fREcjEjwTfwY6wAg&q=finish+line+starter+and+alternator&oq=aternator+finish+line&gs_l=psy-ab.1.0.0i8i13i30k1.36256.50053.0.52663.23.18.0.0.0.0.237.2255.0j13j2.15.0....0...1c.1.64.psy-ab..8.15.2250...0i13k1j0i7i10i30k1j0i10k1j0i22i30k1j0i13i30k1.0.JZu76mLNbnI#rlfi=hd:;si:9729705535794175187;mv:!3m12!1m3!1d8187.067103482339!2d-82.98139474999999!3d42.45615055!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i133!2i267!4f13.1

[siteunseen]

We have a shop here but they're Monday through Friday and I needed it today or else would have to let my Mom drive on of my cars.  I love my Mother more than myself but she thinks cars are like appliances,  use them till they quit then buy another.

Second place on my love list.

 

 

Edited September 24, 2018 by siteunseen

[Patcon]

The older that dog gets the more you two look alike!!! 

[Captain Obvious]

3 hours ago, siteunseen said:

I'm joining the club of reman stuff sucks!

Darn tootin!

[One Way]

I would really like to know more about the quality control standards of both reman and new parts.  Seems that todays business strategy stresses quantity over quality.  Price is the obvious controlling factor.  Most parts, including many reman units carry a lifetime warranty.  Are they remanufactured to that quality standard or are the profits so high that warranty returns do not affect the bottom line that much?  As stated before , my employer switched suppliers for reman alternators and starters about 2 years ago with the reason given being % rate of failures.  That being said I am going to tackle my own rebuild on the alternator.  Then I will know which parts are really new.  I will have an enjoyable new challenge, just not too sure about my lack of experience and knowledge.  It may end up like those dreaded reman stories shared in the above posts.  Hopefully  the factory service manual will have some tips and specifications. Just have not had the time needed to do more research.  Thanks for all the comments. John-Lugoff, SC.

[One Way]

Just an additional thought.  I will be spending about $30 more for the parts-2 bearings and the brush/regulator assy-than purchasing a reman unit, plus the time involved.  Honestly I was quite surprised the brush/regulator assy was even available.  The bearings are just common sized ball bearings.  Probably does not make any financial sense but I will enjoy the project.  Thanks for your time, John.

[Captain Obvious]

Well I'm not in the rebuilding business, but it's clear from the costs of the remanufactured parts that they simply can't be spending a whole lot of time one each one. It sounds like you are a lot closer to the reman sources than most of us and you would have a better chance of providing some real input here.

On ‎9‎/‎18‎/‎2018 at 11:25 PM, One Way said:

I am an assistant manager at a nation wide 5,000 plus store company and we do offer 1 year warranty remans, lifetime warranty remans, as well as new units on some applications.  We changed suppliers for our reman electrical components about 2 years ago due to a high rate of failures.  The new supplier has been much better quality but details are very vague about what actually gets replaced.

If I were in that business, I would do as little as possible to get things turned around and back out the door. Based on the costs involved, they can't be spending more than fifteen total minutes on each one. New bearings and brushes, some quick plating, check it on "the test fixture", some crappy paint and into a box before the paint dries.

Have you asked your supplier for a description of their rebuild process? I have no doubt that it would sound completely credible and reasonable. Which begs the question of why the failure rate is so high and the reputation is so bad.

I am much more confident in my own work. Might not look as pretty because I'm not going to re-plate anything, but I would use bearings who's lineage I could trace, and I would make sure the brushes ran true on smooth surfaces. I've been into at least ten alternators in my automotive past and none of them ever needed any more attention after that. In fact, the one on my 77 is an internally regulated 83 version that I "rebuilt". It's been trouble free for a couple years now.