I had a good 3 year run with it...
I called Pa-performance this morning, I gave the guy on the phone all my info and sales # from when I bought it. He says I'm very sorry this happened and your new 3G Alt will be at your door tomorrow :D
They just want me to return the old one within 14 days...
All I can say is WOW :bowdown: great company.. I'll give an update tomorrow
Got the new 3G yesterday, looks great brand new unit. Threw it in, everything works great. They sent a label to ship the old one back too which is cool..
If anyone is thinking of buying a 3G I highly recomend Pa-performance !!
I guess the higher prices really do warrant excellent service eh? It's the same way in the world of car audio. Crutchfield.com is by far not the cheapest source, but I sent back a total of 2 sets of pioneer speakers that I blew voice coils in by underpowering and they gave me full store credit for new ones. Sometimes, I guess it really is worth it to pay more.
Man, I'd love to go with the PA 3G alternator. That is one of my goals eventually. I've been using 3G's from Pep Boys--I know, I know, but the first one actually held up great for 4 years, until this past spring. I couldn't find the receipt anywhere and figured I was totally screwed. I was pretty much all set (ALL SET, Nick!!) to give PA a call but then thought, aw hell, take it back to PB, see what they say first. The worst they could say is no, correct?!
Even with no receipt AND being 1 year out of warranty, the Boys gave me a replacement 3G free of charge. Well, that was way cool of them...except the replacement lasted all of 1 week. Took it back and they did give me another one--and upgraded it to a Bosch reman (a $150 value). I asked the dude why he was being so cool. Essentially he said PB gets credit for the bad ones, and since mine were in great shape they could pass them off as new/defective. And he also said they like to take care of their customers. Really they didn't even have any proof that I was a customer in the first place! Yet they took my word for it and everything worked out great for all parties.
In essence I am getting service just like PA from Pep Boys, except it's a short local drive and there is no waiting involved. That's why I stuck with them. Now if that guy at PB leaves... ;)
Pep boys can special order Pa-performance 3G's maybe if you have problems again see if they will swap a Pa-perform for it. The nice thing is I got a brand new alt and not a repainted pile of .
Ah yes, you would know Bob. :) I will probably do that when/if I need to.
Great to hear you got a fair shake too. That's pretty rare these days.
whats the big deal about a 3G alt? any pics of what they look like? whats a good used one worth? if its what I already have I have a spare if anyone is looking for one
I got a 130 amp unit and a 95 amp unit in my trunk.The 130 amp alternator is going on my '88 Bird Tuesday morning.3 wires to change and bolt it on.How easy of an upgrade is that?
3G and above have a much improved output at low RPMs. I put a 95A 3G into my '86 T-bird to replace the dying 60A 1G (I had the last of the external regulated) it had. BIG improvement.. can run near everything on the car at idle and I think it still maintains at least 13v. Here's a chart (swiped from PA Performance and JeremyB's alternator thread) :p comparing them. Note the output at 900 and 1000 RPM especially: (between the 60A and the 95A)
thanks but how do I know if I have one? can you tell visually? heres a pic of what I have.
yep.
thanks
88turbo, the one thats on your car, that looks similar to that, is a Hitachi alternator, they had me fooled too, but they arnt a ford part
shawn... you should know my name by now.......
Oh, yeah! I got the 95A 3G model. Bolts right in with no mods (well, other than minor plug rewiring) and works awesome! It's a beautiful semi-gloss black with chrome trim too. I can run an underdrive crank pulley and not have to worry about the alt. (though I usually run the overdrive alt. pulley anyway to make up for the underdrive). It's a thing o' beauty :D
Edit: check it out in the lower left of the pic in my sig below...