Alternator OEM FORD or OEM Honda

The Taurus alternator and 2 speed e-fan come to mind as the two most common parts that people pickup from junkyards and slap them on to their cars.

Had the same issue with my -07 Volvo v50 (it has a ford engine). Swapped the alternator and the problem was gone.

You need one specifically made for your vehicle, but you can shop around on different sites, for different brands to find one that meets your budget. I prefer ones from the OEM (ie Honda), Bosch, or Denso.

I replaced the alternator on my Windstar last month. Disconnect the wires, remove 3 bolts and lift it out. Takes like 10 minutes or less.

The alternator I have on my 3.0 Ford Ranger does over 130 at idle and 300 at 2,000 engine RPM. It's the same size as factory, just custom built for $550 for the truck since I use it for car audio competition.

Between the two that I've owned, I have way over 250k miles in 'em and they are awesome vehicles. Maintenance has been very reasonable although we just had to put a new alternator in the one we have now.

I just had a new alternator put in 2 months ago (3k miles ago) at a different shop. Could all this be caused by a bad alternator?

I had one during college... For a V6 it wasn't particularly quick and handled a lot bigger than it was. In three years it ate five alternators and the intake runner control box was notorious for failing (killing what little power it had).

Reminds me of my old mans '96 Honda Civic hatch. 6 hours to do the swap (4.5 out and 1.5 with a dinner break in) in his yard using mallets and a fucking chisel to get the old one out.

I had a Cougar (same underpinnings) and mine went through alternators like candy. I'm sure a better-designed aftermarket version would probably take care of it though.