Just a note--alternator stopped putting out juice-it was a “remann” the previous owner installed-I have the receipt. Mine also sounded "rough", probably just old and tired-like me-haha :o).-My great mechanic Dave got a real nice original equipment Bosch alternator out of a 740 that had only about 123k on it. When he pulled the brushes on that 740s alternator to look at them, the brushes were maybe only about 1/3 gone-a lot remaining -but, he already had a setup waiting for me with new brushes. The brushes on my remann were almost non-existent-no wonder my battery wasn’t happy. He, Dave, installed those new brushes in the one from the 740 , installed the alternator in our ‘89-245 wagon, and off I went; I swear I could hear the battery smiling. I could have gone with another reman, but I agreed with Dave, that Bosch original equipment from the 740 probably has a lot more miles left on it than a “new” reman might have.

I can picture sometimes a "remann employee/person" has an alternator that needs fixing in front of him on a table,-finds a loose screw-tightens it, wipes it down a bit, and labels it “remanufactured”. Yeah, right! BTW-total cost to me, all parts and labor-$110. (a ”new” remann would have set me back about $160+tax, plus labor.) Gotta love a good, honest, (for the about 5 years I've been dealing with him) "shade tree" mechanic!

The owner of the local NAPA explained that there are two levels (remanufactured and rebuilt, and I forget the exact terms), 1) they check the core out, clean it, fix what's broke, and box it up. 2) they replace everything that can wear. Ones twice the price of the other.

Greg

The proper term is "spray and pray", that is, if it works, just paint and ship, rebuilder.
All that design Bosch and re-branded-as-Volvo alternators have weak springs on the alternator regulator so as the brushes wear, they hop and do not charge as much. Lots of places sell the brushes, used to be $2.50 a set, now is about $7.00 a set. A brush regulator assembly is about 5 times or more that price.
Shade tree mechanic cheap repair for financially difficult times: Pull the neg cable on the car, with alternator installed on car, take the reg-brush set loose by the two screws and tip out from inside of alternator, on bench-use an o-ring pick or ice pick to open the stock crimps for the brushes--watch out, the springs still can push the brushes and themselves out and onto the floor--, match the length of the insulation sleeve with the old one yet do not cut the lead. Now slide insulation and spring on the brush and poke through crimp hole, pull on lead so the top of the brush just enters the holder guide and use a diagonal cutter to gently close the opened crimp, then optionally solder but must cut off the excess lead; now clean and shine the contact tabs, take it to the car and tip the assembly into the alternator and install the two screws, then install the negative cable and check the charging output. Unless a bad bearing or diode exists, this is the cheapest way to go.

I agree that can be the cheapest-however as I said, the old alt sounded really rough and when Dave took it out and spun it you could hear the bearings grinding. The "new" one was as quiet, if not quieter than, a whisper. I would say the way we went was about the next cheapest and with new brushes. Thanks for your input. :o)