Hi all,

I've been pricing reman'ed alternators and have found one from napa. My question is, what is the Amp output for this? The one they have is rated at 70 amp. Looking at fastlane they have this and a 90 amp and the use is dependent on engine serial number. Is there an actual difference in the two?

On a side note; anyone know where to find the engine serial number?

Thanks,
Glen

Any alt will bolt up and take your pulley. The difference is anything above 70 amps has a stud on the back of the alt for the charge wire going to the battery. 70 amp and below have two large spade connectors for the charge wire.

__________________
82 Rabbit diesel (first d), 84 Jetta turbo d (300k when sold), 83 240d (305k when sold), 84 F250 6.9d w/Banks turbo(parts truck), 86 F250 6 cyl.gasser(waiting for 6.9d), 84 300d ( 347k Sold 8/04), Y2k New Bettle TDI (185k miles), 95 740IL (wifes), 87 300TD (206k Sold 7/05), 05 Passat TDI Wagon

Either alternator is OK unless you are running some aux. equipment for some reason that draws a lot of current, like a winch to pull the car out of snow drifts! (Alaska, I couldn't resist!)

The '87s only use a bolt connection AFAIK. What you have to worry about is if the core you return is acceptable if it is a different model. Some resellers don't care, ask them before you order the rebuilt alternator and see what they say. Personally I only recommend Bosch rebuilts. Have you checked Fastlane?

Also count the grooves in the pully, in case they try to send you an alternator off a later car (there are two types of belts with different number of ribs on them) - you don't want to get the alternator all bolted in and find that the pulley on it is the wrong type! Or worse yet, they send you an alternator without the pulley, you sent the old one back w/ pulley on it

Oh yes, sounds like a good opportunity to replace the belt damper shock and tensioner if it hasn't been done recently.

__________________
'95 E320 Wagon my favorite road car. '99 E300D wolf in sheeps body, '87 300D Sportline suspension, '79 300TD w/ 617.952 engine at 367,750 and counting!

Get a borche rebuilt. Do not know about the states but far too many retailers are selling mexican rebuilts that have a terrible reputation. From bad out of the box to failure far sooner than one should expect. Also a lot of places offer free alternator checks that only take a minute once you have it off the car. But of course no mercedesshop member would take advantage of something free needless to say. I am lucky to have a real good independant alternator/starter repair service locally and find his success has been not using inferior parts when repairing the various units I take in. There I go again hanging onto the money. On reflection what one of my daughters said is probably true. Dads so tight he wont even buy wax for any of his mercedes. It's as I told her though, if I buy the wax there will be less money for you kids to party with after I am gone.

What is wrong with your alternator to require replacement ?
Most, on the Bosch I see, only need new brushes.
You can buy the Brush/Regulator for much less than an alternator and you can install it without removing the alternator.

__________________
[http://languageandgrammar.com/2008/01/14/youve-got-problems-not-issues/ ]

"A liberal is someone who feels they owe a great debt to their fellow man, which debt he proposes to pay off with your money."

Warning!!!! I just went through this crap with Autozone!!

Their "Bosch" alt is not a Bosch alt it is cheap< Duralast or whatever they call that pos. The shafts are different; you have a 603 with a serpintine belt the alt I got from Autozone had a shaft from a 420's alt stuck in it. Meaning my pully wouldn't fit, without a bunch of spacers. NAPA is probably the same.

I bought one from Fastlane and it bolted right up.

$200 from Autozone for a cheap rebuild with the wrong shaft
$200 from Fastlane for a top quality direct replacment.

__________________
1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

dkveuro is right, the regulator and its brushes is easily changed and usually fixes 90% of the alternators that fail.
The only exception is if the slip rings get worn considerably they may need resurfacing. You can see them down inside if you shine a strong light down in the slot after removing the regulator assy. If you worry about it, go for a Bosch rebuilt thru Fastlane. And remember to check the tensioner assy if its loose on the shaft then its time to replace that before your belt goes off center and comes off in which case you lose a water pump and if you aren't real fast in shutting down you lose the engine

__________________
'95 E320 Wagon my favorite road car. '99 E300D wolf in sheeps body, '87 300D Sportline suspension, '79 300TD w/ 617.952 engine at 367,750 and counting!