Alternator Motorcraft or GENERAL MOTORS

The OEM alternator is only 55 amps and costs nearly $400, which is stupid expensive and wholly inadequate for off-road lighting, audio amplifiers, and other additional accessories so I decided to go with the CS130D GM alternator, purchased for under $100 new (no core charge) and has a 130 amp capacity.

I'm getting 14.8v from the upgraded alternator at 700rpm and maintaining 14.2v when every possible accessory and light is turned on at idle.

As far as replacements I've had good luck with Rock Auto Sticking to the better brands like Motorcraft, AC Delco, Remy, and Bosch.

The OEM motorcraft alternator in my focus lasted 14 years and its replacement, a Remy, lasted 6. If the difference in price between OEM and aftermarket isn't too big, and you plan on keeping the car for more than 5 more yrs, I'd go with the OEM.

RockAuto does offer Motorcraft alternators and back in 2021, I purchased one for my 2016 5.0 Lariat.

When it comes to an Alt i would spend the extra dough for an OEM model like Motorcraft. Nothing wrong with Rock Auto. I always buy there.

Dealer quoted me $557 for my 15 f150 alternator the other day. Found the same motorcraft alternator for $325-ish (+a $75 core charge). A little less painful. I share them same feelings as a couple other posters. Been burned by enough cheap-o remans over the years to skimp on certain parts.

Been there with a Motorcraft alt. 181K miles. She stopped charging. No batter light on the dash. I laid it to rest and paid my respects.

Go with an OEM unit by Motorcraft even if it's more expensive. Not somethin you want to do twice, learned this lesson with my Explorer. Threw on an aftermarket unit and it doesn't communicate with Ford's smart charging system correctly so it doesn't provide correct voltages as needed, therefore throwing a charging system warning constantly.

Oh yeah and it went through 2 maybe 3 alternators in the 13 years we had it lol.

My mom had a 93 Lumina Euro sedan with the 3.8. The only real serious issue it had was a failed alternator which drained the battery and almost left me stranded one night because the headlights dimmed to the point of being unusable. Other than that, yes the alignment was poor and it had some bad brake wear and warping of the rotors.