Just had some "fun" this weekend ... setting up for some quartermile action, my alternator died on me ... long story, ADAC (german AAA) didn't cover getting my car all the way back (didn't have the right coverage), so I ended up at an Opel/GM dealer ... I guess I was lucky that they are used to Chevys, as they are close to two big US bases, so they have lots of 'em standing around (can you say 6 comemorative edition 'vettes? And then some! standing around on their lot, catching rust on the brake disks), and (I asume) a halfway decent stock of parts ...
Well, I didn't expect them to have a 98 V6 alternator, which I was right with ... anyway, the mechanic came up with another AC Delco alternator that looked pretty similar, except for the mounting holes ... he ended up changing just the electronics of the new (refurbished) alternator for the one from mine ... worked fine after that ... (from the parts manual I have, it might be an LT1 alternator - LS1 looks different for the mounts)
I got to take the whole parts left over (including the blown electronics) to take with me, I guess I'm going to have a look at the electronics and see if it's maybe just a blown diode on the rectifier ... that way, I either have a replacement, or might be able to get back some of the cost if I can sell it again ... anybody tried fixing an alternator before?
And, a related question, is it normal for an alternator to go south after just 30k miles?
Well, I didn't expect them to have a 98 V6 alternator, which I was right with ... anyway, the mechanic came up with another AC Delco alternator that looked pretty similar, except for the mounting holes ... he ended up changing just the electronics of the new (refurbished) alternator for the one from mine ... worked fine after that ... (from the parts manual I have, it might be an LT1 alternator - LS1 looks different for the mounts)
I got to take the whole parts left over (including the blown electronics) to take with me, I guess I'm going to have a look at the electronics and see if it's maybe just a blown diode on the rectifier ... that way, I either have a replacement, or might be able to get back some of the cost if I can sell it again ... anybody tried fixing an alternator before?
And, a related question, is it normal for an alternator to go south after just 30k miles?
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