Gentlemen,

I own a 03 2wd 2500 and just went over 103K. I don't drive the truck daily and it is my "mule" when I move my vehicles when Uncle Sam says pack it up. I recently had the trans solenoid go out and I see that most of the folks had the same issue around just about the same mileage. My question is what are you guys getting for Alternator life? If you had to change it out, what was the miles on it? My truck is well maintained and very clean. I will clean up the clear coat issues this year, but for 12 years old, the mule is doing very well.

I have had to replace the blend door once, added a pusher fan on the condenser, of course the dash cracked. Besides that, its regular maintenance.

Smitty

 

I'm not sure if the alternators on the 3rd gen trucks are the same, but the Nippondensos on the 1st and 2nd gens seemed to be some of the longest lasting in the industry. Working on these trucks for years and don't remember ever seeing one cause a problem before about 130k miles. Brushes were usually the first thing to cause an issue. At your mileage, whatever brand your alternator turns out to be, you may be wise to pop a fresh set of brushes into it if they are serviceable.

 

It seams like they stopped selling brush kits at 02. I have not seen a place yet that has a kit for 03 and up.

Smitty

 

Hi Smitty,

Don't know if the alternator in my 06 is the same as in your 03, but I'm at 154K miles and still going on the original one.

 

150K, still strong, check battery cable clamps and clean on a regular basis. on my 04.5;;

 

changed my first alternator at 210K

bad batteries will expedite the downfall of it pretty quickly. Hence why it was changed

 

Good to hear on that. I keep my truck pretty clean/maintained and I hope to have the same results.

Smitty