I have a 1997 Grand Caravan with 3.3 Flex.

I believe the alternator is going, who has the best replacement at the chain retail stores?

I'm not finding good reviews from Autozone or Advance Auto, hopefully someone here has had good luck somewhere.

Thanks

 

I've never had an issue with the Autozone Duralast stuff. I use it all of the time.

 

you could try ROCK AUTO, but truthfully I use Advance and Auto Zone parts and have never had a problem with any of them

 

Yea, I use those places for a lot of things, but never an alternator, and the reviews online are not good.

However, here's my situation. I heard chirping, and thought it was time to change out the pulleys, so I replaced them and the belt.

However, a couple weeks later the chirping returned, so I thought maybe the pulleys had sub par bearings, so I pressed in some new better ones, and the problem did not go away.

So, after trying to listen closely, it sounds like the noise is coming from the alternator, so that's why I thought maybe the bearings are going bad.

But, if I only replaced the pulley bearing on the tensioner, could the squeal be coming from the spring part of the arm?

 

I have an Alternator from Advance in my '98 Neon, over 50,000 mles on it and no problems (Limited Lifetime Warranty as well).

 

i find that just getting an OEM used alternator is a much better way. the only failures I see is a lot of wear on the brush rings on the armature and brush wear. other than that, there isn't much that goes wrong with them. (sure you could burn up a diode, but that's usually caused by overloading the electrical system)

 

I swapped it out last night with a Reman from Napa.

All was well until about 5 miles, and the noise returned!

I cannot figure out where it's coming from, and why it would stop temporarily after I put a new one in.

My next guess is that there is something on the belt like oil or something, but it sure sounds like bearings or something

 

bummer. maybe you need a power steering pump, or an a/c compressor clutch or there's some pulley not in perfect alignment or maybe you have a pulley with a crack.

my van has had a chirp for about 10 years now and I just ignore it... eventually the noise will go away. besides with the windows up, my system cranked through some 15" subs and some Snoop and Wu-tang cranked up, I couldn't even hear a rod knock

 

i bet it could be ac clutch but easy to test put dial to feet and everything off then re check. ac should not come on and the clutch be dissengaged. now maybe tensioner could be bad. i assume ya got a new belt? check all pulleys.

 

If you have not done this, take a good look at the Tensioner Pulley, they do fail and they do Squeak or Chirp, sometimes intermitantly.