i have a 1988 honda accord 4dr dx. i went to autozone today because battery light was on in car. it has been on for three days whenever i drove. i bought a new battery to only find out my alternator has gone bad. the guy gave it like two or three days. i had a system installed in my car 4 months ago and havent had any problems till now. It was the orignal alternator in the car i think 65 amps. in my car i have 2 12" acoustik subs i think 1200 watts each with a kenwood 1800 amp. 4 6.5 infinity speakers. it was installed at bestbuy. i have hardly any money right now , it sucks. i went to a auto shop and they estimated 100 bucks to install the new alternator, i just now need to buy one. it is kind of hard finding one for my year, i did find a refurbished one on ebay with 165 amps for like 180 dollars. is that a good deal, do you know where i can get one for a better price? what should i do. i really dont know a lot about spekers and stuff accept i know i like the sound.
2006-10-02 12:48:17 · 7 answers · asked by big boy 2 in Cars & Transportation ➔ Car Audio
super heavy duty :)
2006-10-02 12:51:34 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Here's the best advice anyone can give you for your situation....Have the alternator rebuilt! There are shops that specialize in that sorta thing around the country, you just need to utilize a phonebook. Most of them will also gurantee their work, and some can even change the output while rebuilding it. The cost is usually very reasonable to buying a new....or even a rebuilt one with a core charge. A chimp with a crowbar and a couple of socket wrenches can replace an alternator...it's very easy. You are getting screwed on the auto shop quote,
check it out! 165 bucks may be the best deal you can find, but I would beg to say that a place can probably rebuild one and put it on for under 100$
2006-10-02 13:10:17 · answer #2 · answered by james_spader_jr 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you need to replace you alternator go ahead, but the main thing i recommend is to buy a capacitor rated for your system. Since you will be running a 1800 watt Kenwood i would recommend 2 Farad, 2.5-3 for more power storage. This will take a lot of strain off of your charging system even with a stock 65 amp alternator. Audio systems aren't something that require constant power consumption such as, winches, off-road lights, other high amp electronics. They mainly require high surges of power which a capacitor balances out, Capacitors store elctricity and release it when needed . Unless you are building a competition audio system it is not worth it most of the time to upgrade your alternator. I am not saying it is a bad idea but it may not be the solution, even with a bigger alternator surges of current will still be required for the amp the hit bass notes. And this will eventually cause damage to your charging system again. Capacitors are cheap and easy to install just follow the install and charging directions carefully or your capacitor might be useless.
2006-10-05 17:22:15 · answer #3 · answered by roach57_new 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
First off I would attempt to do it yourself. I have changed out a lot of alternators and they are usually not that hard. Even if you have to buy a Chiltons or Haynes car repair manual for your car you would save money. You should check at Autozone and see what amperages they offer and what they cost. That should tell you if a rebuilt one on ebay is worth it. And if you buy one on ebay and it craps out, you probably can't return it and get a new one under warranty. At Autozone/Checker/Napa you can. Most alternators come with a warranty.
I would ask Autozone to recommend you one. Although you might not need the biggest. I have one that pushes 225 at the max in my Firebird. And one that pushes 105 at the max in my truck. The one in my truck is barely able to power a very small system and 2 PIAA lights. Well good luck. I hope it works out. You might see if you can get one from a junkyard out of a wrecked car too. That might be pretty cheap. Where I live we also have a shop that rewinds/ rebuilds alternators. They can even put more wire wraps in so that it will push more amperage. But their alternators are cheap. They rebuild them right there and they have warranties on them. So maybe you could find a shop like that. Well again good luck.
2006-10-02 13:04:03 · answer #4 · answered by fast_bird94 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Ya changing the alternator is a peice of cake. But be careful about buying alternators off ebay, they're usually low quality and the regulators are made in china. And don't just drop a replacement because that 65 amp alt is not enough. Also don't just get an alternator rewrapped with more wire because the alternators diodes are rated only so high and if you push more amperage through them theyll toast. And you dont need a 200 amp alternator thats rediculous. that rating is at max power. your amplifier runs at RMS most of the time which is 900 watts. and companies usually overblow the ratings so that alternator off ebay would be enough
2006-10-02 13:09:26 · answer #5 · answered by nickypoo 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
look in the yellow pages for rebuilt ones, you can take ur old one back for the core charge.
should be around 60 bucks
2006-10-02 12:56:48 · answer #6 · answered by mike d 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
it might be a good deal IF it fits! Find out if you can return it for a refund before you buy!
2006-10-02 12:56:17 · answer #7 · answered by MC 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋