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Your car is quite old. It's hours, more than miles. The alternator isn't a known issue for the LS like some other items (like ML amp and brake accumulator). Many posts here about store brand alternators failing but the OEM is solid. No worries.
Your car is quite old. It's hours, more than miles. The alternator isn't a known issue for the LS like some other items (like ML amp and brake accumulator). Many posts here about store brand alternators failing but the OEM is solid. No worries.
If solid means 140k miles until naturally dead then by all means, but I would assume they’re able to last longer. When it went out I figured it was caused by something else, maybe an oil leak from the head gasket, or coolant leak, but once pulled it looked pretty clean overall.. so maybe a possible electrical issue (fuse blow out?) that caused it to burn out as a chain effect (over charge?). Or just old age, it’s lived it’s whole life here in AZ and the summer heat is brutal on cars.
Milage is at about 140k. The hours I haven’t checked in a while. The alternator (OEM) is pretty beat as you can see in the pictures. Learning as I go here… but it appears it was melted at the plastic where the copper comes up through on two of the three sides.. blowing out the diodes?
I’ve watched many videos on how they rebuild Denso alternators, so I originally wanted I’d go that route. The bearings are still smooth and the voltage regulator looks good. The $1300 coil assembly I mentioned above comes with what’s called a rectifier attached as part of the whole assembly (attached picture). I just learned about the rectifier and how it can be purchased separate. It would require the copper to be soldered in.. is that about it aside from assembling together? Anyone have experience with this?
I may just cough up the $400 for a OEM alternator from the dealer… safe to assume it is new and not remanufactured if from dealer? I’ll find out when call tomorrow.
I’ve also checked with local part stores who sell remanufactured ones like Napa, RockAuto, and a few others. The plan is to stick with Denso as they are OE if I don’t just get OEM from the dealer.
I’m really getting into this whole DIY thing but can see it taking up waaay to much of my time. Time or money which side to go…
Nice thing about the dealer and their inflated pricing is you get a new model Lexus to drive while you wait for the repairs.
Just because your alternator died early doesn't mean all OEM will die early. But you do as you please and feel free to disregard any advice or help that you requested.
Just because your alternator died early doesn't mean all OEM will die early. But you do as you please and feel free to disregard any advice or help that you requested.
Where did you come to this conclusion? What advice and help are you referring to? Because you certainly haven’t made any.
I’ve used the help and advice of the OP on how to remove the old unit as shown. I also went ahead and purchased OEM. Either offer help or keep silent. Your criticism is not warranted.
I apologize for the criticism. Maybe I had a bad day, no excuse there. But it seems, it's mostly misunderstanding statements made.
You said about my observation of OEM being reliable, "If solid means 140k miles until naturally dead then by all means, but I would assume they’re able to last longer."
In response to my observation about store brands being unreliable, you said "I’ve also checked with local part stores who sell remanufactured ones like Napa, RockAuto, and a few others.". Sounded like you were considering store brands.
This thread was started in 2017 with 34 posts, many from other members like myself. How am I to know you only were taking info from OP? With you having only 44 total posts, and your comment of how DIY takes up a lot of your time, it would be easy to assume you're new to DIY.
This was a sincere attempt to keep you moving in the best direction and not waste your time on aftermarket units. Hope it works out for you
I apologize for the criticism. Maybe I had a bad day, no excuse there. But it seems, it's mostly misunderstanding statements made.
You said about my observation of OEM being reliable, "If solid means 140k miles until naturally dead then by all means, but I would assume they’re able to last longer."
In response to my observation about store brands being unreliable, you said "I’ve also checked with local part stores who sell remanufactured ones like Napa, RockAuto, and a few others.". Sounded like you were considering store brands.
This thread was started in 2017 with 34 posts, many from other members like myself. How am I to know you only were taking info from OP? With you having only 44 total posts, and your comment of how DIY takes up a lot of your time, it would be easy to assume you're new to DIY.
This was a sincere attempt to keep you moving in the best direction and not waste your time on aftermarket units. Hope it works out for you
Its all good. Thank you for the encouragement. Diving into this morning.
Just wanted to add something to this thread that I did not see included. I literally just walked in from doing the alternator on my 09 L with AWD. Everything that was posted is correct. The only addendum is that with AWD, there is a major crossmember underneath the alternator. And, there are only 3 bolts holding it on. 2 on top and only 1 on the bottom at the front. With the crossmember, there is no room for a 4th bolt and you can barely get bottom front bolt loose enough to wiggle the alternator out. I did not lift the car or take the bottom shields off. Didn't need to and would have been useless since there is no way from underneath to access the bottom bolt due to the crossmember I also have a set of ratchet open end wrenches that I would call essential for this job. My hands are torn up and it is a ***** since you are doing much of it blind. Took me about 2 hours.
The only addendum is that with AWD, there is a major crossmember underneath the alternator. And, there are only 3 bolts holding it on. 2 on top and only 1 on the bottom at the front. With the crossmember, there is no room for a 4th bolt and you can barely get bottom front bolt loose enough to wiggle the alternator out.
Did your alt have a rear lower bottom bolt hole ? I'm just wondering if it's been changed before because my 13 awd has 2 bottom and 2 upper bolts.
someone just got lazy and left one out. when replacing those lower ones they have to be partly in the bore when you swing the alt in position, it's a little tight.
Have you done this job on a AWD??? Very curious. I was wondering the same thing since I could tell that someone else had been into mine before me. There was no hole that I could see and absolutely no way you could access it with the crossmember there. You would have to remove or lift the engine quite a ways.
No, the rear bolt is accessible from underneath just behind the corner of the crossmember, I used a short wrench on it and then fingers. you get used to working blind when you're around vehicles a lot... the wheel and undercover have to be removed.
First and foremost safety first for yourself and for your vehicle, unplug your battery and put your vehicle on jack stands safely.
1. Remove engine covers and proceed to remove intake ducts.
2. Once you have revealed the pulleys, remove the serpentine belt by releasing the tensioner as shown below
3. Remove the ground located between the alternator and crank pulley
4. Remove the 10mm bolt securing the oil dipstick and zip tie it up to the left side to give yourself room to work.
5. The alternator is mounted with two 14mm nuts on top and two 14mm bolts on the bottom that bolt into the passenger side of the block. You will be required to remove the top bolts first and proceed to remove the two studs with an E8 torx socket. I recommend removing front nut and stud then the rear. Note: When reinstalling, install the rear then the front.
6. To get to the bottom bolts you will need to remove the plastic guard under the vehicle followed by the metal skid plate.
disregard the red markings, it's a photo from another post, remove the black skid plate behind The red arrow. The center is latched on which can be removed by lifting and sliding the skid plate forward, after all bolts have been removed.
7. break the 2 14mm bolts loose, let them hang freely as you will not be able to pull them straight out without moving the alternator around and angled in order to do so
8. Go back to the top of the vehicle, pull back the protective boot and remove the bolt securing the cable and undo the harness from the alternator by depressing the clip and pulling simultaneously.
9. I undid the radiator hose clamp from the thermostat housing and moved the hose, moved it out of they way to make room for removal of the alternator. I loss a couple ounces on rad fluid, I recommend using a catch can just in case.
Note: make sure you research proper bleeding procedures after reinstalling to rid of any air in the system, also when reinstalling the new alternator, cover it with a thick towel or cloth to protect it from rad fluid when putting the rad hose back onto the thermostat housing. After this you can proceed to wiring the alternator back up.
10. Don't forget to slip the metal harness retainer back onto the front 14mm bolt while everything is loose. Otherwise if it's skipped you have to decide to do without mounting it or taking all your bolts out to get the retainer back in there.
This is a good opportunity to replace any idler pulleys, serpentine belt since it's already out and waterpump if it's due and any other components that are revealed while you're in there. Beware of leaning on the good ole radiator reservoir nipple as it is very brittle and prone to breaking to avoid replacing the radiator.
Reinstall in reverse procedure.
Do you need to remove the piece that circle red in the pic to get the alternator out? Thanks
10-01-23, 11:16 AM
