Fair price for new alternator?

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Sep 17, 2007 | 07:58 AM

GeoW97

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Fair price for new alternator?

Unfortunately for me, the quickest and safest way to get my electrical problem diagnosed is to take it to the dealer and pay the $119 diagnostic fee. I'm quite sure it's just a bad cable, but want to be prepared if they tell me somehow it's internal to the alternator. They say the alternator itself is about $500, but didn't get back to me on the labor; it's a '99 A6 Avant Quattro (30v 2.8); anyone know what a good indy, or even a "good dealer" would charge?

Sep 17, 2007 | 08:13 AM

MarkW

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AutohausAZ has them from 200-340. Labor, essentially a TB job. You have to remove the TB to get it

Sep 17, 2007 | 10:01 AM

audikillsbmw

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You have to remove the TB to get to the alternator on V6 models?

If so, that sucks. On my 4.2, it's mounted out in the open on the passenger's side of the engine.

Sep 17, 2007 | 10:21 AM

4Driver4

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What exactly is the problem? Your alternator could be a Valeo or a Bosch.

Wiring problems are pretty rare. If the alternator isn't charging, the bushes are probably worn out. The easiest thing to do is to replace the alternator.

The Valeo or the Bosch will work, but they have different pulleys on the front. If the alternator you buy has a pulley on it, no problem. But if you have to reuse your existing pulley, the alternator needs to match the unit you have now. Be careful what you buy. The dealer stuff is stupidly expensive, but the cheapo Autozone stuff is garbage (STFA on the B5 forum). I bought an aftermarket unit for $200 that has worked for 50k+ miles.

You will need to put the nose into service position, but you will not need to remove the timing belt. However, since there is some labor overlap, consider doing a complete belt service if you are close to a timing belt change.

Sep 17, 2007 | 10:37 AM

GeoW97

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Re: What exactly is the problem? Your alternator could be a Denso or a Bosch.

Thanks for the advice. The problem is that any time I brake hard going downhill, some connection seems to be broken and the car stops immediately, with the lights on, just no power to the engine. So I suspect some faulty wiring somewhere, but it's kind of odd; the problem first surfaced as my battery not charging, eventually draining to where it wouldn't start the car. But the voltage meter looked good, so I replaced the battery (I'd had a power amp that was constantly trickling off the battery and thought that might be why the 3-year-old battery died...). The new battery seems to be charging, but now this oddity with the car cutting out when I generate enough forward G's (I can see the voltage meter dipping toward 12 when I brake hard; it's usually sitting a little above or a tiny bit below the 14...). An intermittent connection might explain all, so I'm going to have them look for that, but wanted to get some parameters on prices if I'm wrong.

Sep 17, 2007 | 11:06 AM

thomas1978

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Valeo or Bosch

<ul><li><a href="http://www.autopartsworld.com/1999_audi_a6-quattro-v6-30v_alternator_parts.html">http://www.autopartsworld.com/1999_audi_a6-quattro-v6-30v_alternator_parts.html</a</li></ul>