Alternators

The alternator is one of the most important parts of your vehicle's electrical system. What it does sounds simple. It converts mechanical energy generated by the engine and converts it into the electricity that feeds most of your systems and accessories.

How it does that is slightly more complex. Your crankshaft takes the pistons' vertical motion and turns it into rotary motion. That moves a belt that's attached to a pulley located on the rotor shaft. Inside the rotor shaft, magnetic coils get agitated by the rotary movement and produce a magnetic field. That field is captured as AC power by a rectifier and transformed to the DC power that your entertainment system, windows, wipers, and battery all use.

Sadly, even a highest quality alternator can begin to fail. That's not good, since it leaves your vehicle's battery as the sole source of electricity for everything. Signs of trouble include:

• Headlights dim or flicker
• Entertainment system troubles
• Power windows quit operating
• Battery keeps dying
• Whining noises coming from the engine

You Can Rely on Genuine OEM Alternators to Perform Best

If you think your alternator's going bad, test your charging system. If it indicates that your alternator is failing, replace it as soon as you can. If you're not having problems, you can expect to need to replace yours every seven years or between 80,000 and 150,000 miles. For your specific maintenance schedule, check your owner's manual.

Choosing an alternator made by your manufacturer ensures the guaranteed compatibility that you want. Our online Mopar auto parts store has a variety in stock and ready to ship, so buy now and save!