Alternator VALEO or AC DELCO

A brand new Valeo (439317) alternator is $209 on Rockauto and they can be swapped in an hour or two.

I then ordered a Valeo from Bimmerworld which arrived seized. Finally ordered the same Valeo from RockAuto (for less money, too) which has been working great so far.

I thought Valeo was OEM? Cost me like $250 and was a perfect match.

I replaced my alternator with a Valeo unit. They manufacture the OEM part. Think it was 300$ or so, while OEM was almost double. Just a heads up, there’s almost zero clearance to remove the alternator. Really tight fit.

Put an AC Delco alternator on my Celica because I couldn't get a Denso for it. Wasn't going to buy a store brand reman that'll die in 6 months.

If it was me, I’d go with the ACDelco. Never had any issues with them so far. Checking for the best warranty is something else you might consider, just make sure to read that fine print closely.

Always buy ac delco OEM alternators not part store crap.

On rock auto I see new alternators from ac delco. Not sure about any of those brands.

The issue you can run into is most common vehicle alternators are light duty at best. Lets say its a 100 amp alt, don't pull more than 40 amps continuous. A great example is the AC Delco 10si alternator. Loads of cheap knock offs and copies of that alternator all claiming crazy high amperage but none list the duty cycle. The 10si frame is designed for 40 amps of power and the heat that creates. You might be able to get a little more cooling with a better fan but you won't get 100+ amps out of one.

In the process of replacing the alternator..it was bad.