Alternator OEM FORD or OEM Volvo

The 2.4 in my 2006 S40 was stone cold reliable to 157k miles before I sold it. Needed a new alternator at about 145k but that was it. It\u2019s been 2 years and I still miss driving that car. The BEST front seats of any vehicle I\u2019ve driven or ridden in.

My old 04 Volvo Xc90 had 311k on the dash before the alternator gave up lol. Doing better than that!

I have experienced my share of faulty Ford alternators from the chain stores. I now get OEM from Ford. Yes, they are expensive but I have better things to do than replace month old alternators constantly.

Did they put in an OEM ford alternator? Fords switched to their “smart charging” system and its a little more complicated than your average alternator diagnosis.

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.

Newer ford alternators essentially “talk” to the pcm. Cheap aftermarket alternators do not do well on these cars. Replace the alternator with a better quality alternator

Had issues with every single Ford alt I replaced (from autozone, Napa, Oriellys) didn’t matter. Only had luck with either dealer parts or from a local rebuilder.

I once went through 3 alternators in 2 days from the Ford dealer on one job.

Go with a new OEM. I had a Ford E250 I put a remanufactured one in and it lasted like 2000 miles and gave out.