Ot. alternator on 99 F 350

Bill in Colo · Dec 1, 2014

I just had the 4th alternator fail on my truck the past 3 have been top of the line new ones from Parts City.same line as O'Riellys.
Batteries are 60 month units that are only a year old. What is the likely problem?
Thanks, Bill

Bob · Dec 1, 2014

Two things come to mind... 1. In what way are the alternators failing? (Bearings, electrical, burned electrical connector, simply quit charging, or what?

2. When did "top of the line" new ones from Parts City, likely from "The Lands of Almost Right" become the de-facto standard for quality?

M-MAN · Dec 1, 2014

Had that happen once with an older F 150. It was a bad ground from the negative battery cable.

John_PA · Dec 1, 2014

I also have a 99 f350 diesel.

had factory alt go at 160K. replacement went at 170K, then that one's replacement went at 178K. Bought the $350 motorcraft new alt from ford... 186K on the truck now with no problems... Never will buy a heavy duty alternator that is aftermarket again!

John B. · Dec 2, 2014

You probably have a battery cable end by the battery. They like to corrode there causing a high resistance that the alternator cannot tolerate. That's been my experience when alternators keep going out on the same vehicle.

John B. · Dec 2, 2014

You may have to cut off some of the cable insulation to see the bad part. It may not be visible until you peel back the insulation.

Sprint 6 · Dec 2, 2014

Motorcraft alternators need to be installed on Ford products. Aftermarkets seem to fail early or have odd charging problems such as pulsating headlights.

Ken Macfarlane · Dec 2, 2014

Bad cable ends on our 2001 plus instead of buying rebuilt, took into local rebuild shop and watched him rebuild.

He claims most starter and alt problems at that age of vehicle are poor electrical connections. Starter on same truck had been replaced a few times and he accurately predicted one of the bolts broke when I removed it even though it had just been off the truck. Wasn't grounding well to the engine and making connection via bolt - extra resistance.

John A · Dec 2, 2014

Bil, On My 01 F-350 w/ 7.3 Dsl Lost my Factory alt in the 180/190K range, I got the Auto Zone, Top of the line, Life time warranty and all that! Replacement went bad in short order A.Z. replaced it, 2nd Replacement has worked fine for the last 50K miles, I now have in the Neighborhood of 245K
Learned many yrs ago that there is a large percentage of Electrical parts that are BAD right out of the Box, it is a crap shoot every time on electrical parts! I really don't care whose name is on the box!
My thought process is buy it Once and the warranty will take care of it after that! Maybe you need to try a different supplier, My Thoughts!
Later,
John A.

GregCO · Dec 2, 2014

Well not to bash where your parts came from, but O'Riellys isn't the high end when it comes to electrical parts. They are better than Autozone from my experience, but barely. I went through three on my old beater Saturn and then bought a new one from NAPA. It was three times the price, but is still going after 100k. As others have said also check battery cables and clamps and other connections. Cables that are corroded behind the sheathing create large inconsistent loads and can beat up the best of them. My old 96 one ton chevy ate one I had just replaced due to a battery cable that was just a mess behind the sheathing that I didn't notice until I got to looking close.

Greg

Ot. alternator on 99 F 350

Bill in Colo

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Bob

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M-MAN

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John_PA

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John B.

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John B.

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Sprint 6

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Ken Macfarlane

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John A

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GregCO

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