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Hi new here.alternator question

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Patriot girl

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
Hi. My alternator has a whine. Jeep dealership said its my alternator going.
750 to replace.
My partner can replace alternators but is it hard to get to? One google search said they had to remove the right front wheel etc.
Worth trying or..pay the money.
Anyone replace one with ease?
 
#2 ·
Is $750 dealer cost?
Had my alt replaced for about $400 total.
Bit of work to get to compared to other cars, but if one is familiar with change alternators, they can handle the pat.
And yes have to remove wheel, believe also water pump, to access the alt.
 
Discussion starter · #3 ·
Where do you live? I'm in Vancouver Canada. May be more costly ? Oh I see my area. Yes that's the dealer price they quoted. My jeep is making a whine sound while driving. Not losing power yet. But they said its going. I have 111k on the engine. How many miles or kilometers did yours go at?
I'm checking around . I'll get the part from napa if cheaper .
Thanks for your help. Definitely sounds alot easier with a hoist.
 
#4 ·
I had mine replaced at a dealer in PA.
Had about 80k on it at the time.
What made the dealer say it was going?
Just the sound or did they test it?
By testing it they check that its putting out +12 volts,
Any less car gets extra juice from the battery till battery is dead too.
If just by sound, good chance its going but could also just be a dry belt/pulley,
Quick spray of some silicone lube could help the whine.
If alt is going, try disconnecting battery while car is running, if car dies when battery is disconnected alt is kaput.
Can also try engine self diagnostic see if any electrical trouble codes come up,
Car off, turn key to on with out turning the engine on
Off/on, off/on, off/on three times in a row in under 10 seconds, and watch codes on dash/tripometer.
 
#6 ·
Patriotgirl, what you need to do is find an auto electric shop and get the alternator tested out.

Just like a radiator shop can rebuild a radiator at great savings so too can an auto electric shop replace diodes, pulleys, etc. Or install a nice rebuilt unit or install a tested good unit from the wreckers.

Specialty shops for specialty items...my motto.

You have options beyond the yank it out and replace with factory new in the dealership. little known fact, lots of Chrysler dealerships in BC run union shops in the back. Left over from the bad days when owners ran over the mechanics. In BC its real hard to get rid of the union so there you go...his costs are high, his mark up must be too.

Yellow pages or Internet, find a couple of auto electric shops and go and ask for options.
1) is it failing and where.
2) what are your best options, fix this one, rebuilt, wreckers or new.
3) cost of those options.

Meantime don't go on any long, far away from home drives...modern vehicles don't go far at all without the alternator.
 
#7 ·
Just replaced pulley on mine. Sounded like whine from dry power steering pump at first, then got progressively worse. It (the alternator) uses an decoupler style pulley which basically freewheels in one direction. Apparently, lots of vehicles use these nowadays. If you search the forum, you'll find a couple of threads that show how to replace it. I'm not saying yours is bad, but sounds like mine. About 90.00us from napa.
 
#8 ·
I would definitely take the steps to test the alternator. Hopefully it could be resolved without a replacement.

It sounds like it's a pain to change on our Pats...
If anyone's ever change the alternator on a SAAB, that's by far the worst mechanical experience I've ever had! Even after you take off all of the surrounding parts that keep you from getting to the alt, there is NO ROOM to get your tools in there! Wrench, socket or otherwise. Makes you wonder what these engineers are thinking about when they design the engine bay...
 
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#10 ·
Creation said:
Uhhh, ill go out on a limb here and say that they believe there designs are flawless and will never break.



Sent from my SCH-I510 using AutoGuide.com App
Click to expand...
hahaha...safe bet. I'm sure they're thinking about functional efficiency...something very different from repairable efficiency.

"how tightly can we squeeze EVERYTHING so that it takes up as little space as possible, effectively making it the biggest PITA to work on when it breaks"

I miss having distributor caps and carburetors and room under the hood to crawl in with the engine and take apart whatever it was you were working on...
 
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Discussion starter · #11 ·
Hi thanks everyone. Bwpakk that's exactly how mine sounded. I'm sure the pulley was a big part of it. I took it to a shop across the street..not dealership. He did the whole job for 400 counting the part as we told him we checked out the price already. He charged us an hour and it took him about 2.5 hours. I don't think he had a fun time.
I got a step by step installation guide with pics off the Internet.
It now runs smoothly again. He let it run for about 20 minutes and it was definitely failing.
Even my engine sounded rough when I was driving.
 
#12 ·
Hello, Patriot Girl, and welcome! I'm curious how many miles on your Patriot? Seems I've been running original alternators on everything I've owned, most recently a 2001 Pontiac with 250,000 miles. Several other GMs and Chrysler products, typically well past 100,000 miles, and only one blown alternator back in the early '80s.
 
#13 ·
Should be putting out more than 12v. Should be putting out 13+ volts with A/C, radio, headlights, wipers, etc all on.
 
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#14 ·
My alternator made an awful noise. Thought the engine or the CVT were going.

My 2007 Pat has 116,000 miles, and the noise just started a few hundred miles ago. It lasted a little longer than I thought it would.

I had a shop replace it.
 
#15 ·
The original alternator in my Lebaron went out at 225,000. Not bad, I hope the one in my Patriot lasts nearly as long if not much more!
 
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#16 ·
Patriot girl said:
Hi thanks everyone. Bwpakk that's exactly how mine sounded. I'm sure the pulley was a big part of it. I took it to a shop across the street..not dealership. He did the whole job for 400 counting the part as we told him we checked out the price already. He charged us an hour and it took him about 2.5 hours. I don't think he had a fun time.
I got a step by step installation guide with pics off the Internet.
It now runs smoothly again. He let it run for about 20 minutes and it was definitely failing.
Even my engine sounded rough when I was driving.
Click to expand...
$400 is alot for local shop to do it,
i paid $400 for a dealer to do it.
even if it takes them more than book hours, they shouldnt charge you for the extra time,
you should be paying for the job, not for the time for them to learn your car.
unless another problem arises thats not their fault and makes the job longer.
 
#17 ·
I have a 2008 Patriot 2.4L and I just changed the alternator yesterday. You have to remove the right wheel, the plastic dam on the bottom and the car and also the wheel well lining. To remove the alternator you have to unbolt the A/C compressor so that there's enough room to remove the alternator. There are some good videos on youtube ...
 
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mrpenguin
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