2004 S4 Alternator?

[JTown]

I need a new alternator for my S4 says my local stealership and they want $1600 parts and labor so i will go with someone else to install it not them but im wanting to know if anyone knows some good websites that have an alternator for under $360 thats what im finding and thats not including shippin so if someone could help out that would be great thanx

[Slobo7x]

damn $1600 for alternator? I guess since everything in front has to come apart, you sure it isn't the belt? My belt was completley shreded and the car exhibits the same symptoms as alternator faliure.

[fitzS4]

that seems really high i mean the alternator is at teh bottom of the motor looks very easy to get to if you have a lift...

[3 bar]

Check out partstrain online for cheaper starter.

[AudiOso]

Why is a dealership doing the work to factory specs and selling a part with a full warranty a "stealership?" The whole front clip has to come off the car to do an alternator. If you weren't ready to pay you shouldn't have anted up to play.

[eweu]

The MSRP on the alternator is over $900. Discounted you can't get it for less that $700. There's a decent amount of labor involved as well as the front end comes off. Don't forget the alternator is water cooled as well. It's simply an expensive repair no matter how you look at it.

[khyber]

I had mine replaced also, and it was about $1600. Couldn't find it much cheaper elsewhere so I just decided to let them handle it and have peace of mind.

[jaybquick@JHM]

I will look into this and get back to you guys. Feel free to email me at [email protected].

All I found out so far is that it is a 190amp alternator made by Delphi on the B6 S4s.

[JTown]

Why is a dealership doing the work to factory specs and selling a part with a full warranty a "stealership?" The whole front clip has to come off the car to do an alternator. If you weren't ready to pay you shouldn't have anted up to play.

ANTI UP great response but theres always atleast one of somewhere LOL .. like i said i found the alternator for $360 not to worried about the install i know what has to be done to do it im lookin for a cheaper part why pay more if you can find it cheaper so if you want to "ANTI UP" then you drop the cash pimp and pay it up

[JTown]

I will look into this and get back to you guys. Feel free to email me at [email protected].

All I found out so far is that it is a 190amp alternator made by Delphi on the B6 S4s.

If ya find something that will be great i will keep checkin back and thanx for the help

[jaybquick@JHM]

If ya find something that will be great i will keep checkin back and thanx for the help

For an OEM Audi Remanufactured unit I can get it to ya for $500 ($673 is retail) plus a $200 core charge and shipping. It only takes 3 days to get from a local supplier to me. I am still waiting for a response from my germany connection and my aftermarket sources. A brand new OEM Audi part is $760 ($1044 is retail).


That $360 looks like a good price if it is a high quality unit. Where did you find that from??

Thanks.

[JTown]

The one Im seeing is at autopartswarehouse.com the $360 doesnt include the core charge though

[BCsniper]

I'd been planning on starting a new thread about this but I guess I'll just bring back an old one.


My alternator died about a week ago after the rns-e put in ran the car down for about 2-3 days. I dont know why the nav would never go off and drained the battery but it did, then the alternator died shortly after. Of course I wasn't lucky enough to just have to belt snap, so it seems a new alternator is unavoidable.

I've looked over the Serp belt replacement so I know the beginning of the job, but I've kind of gotten lost after getting the front end into the "service" position. Where do I go from here?

Can I get to and remove the alternator from here or do I have to completely remove the radiator and the rest of the front end to reach it? Also what all parts am I looking at for this job? I'm looking at this used alternator in the classifieds, am I lucky enough to only need this or will I need additional parts as well?

Also if anyone has some helpful tips or pointers it would be very appreciated.... I wasn't able to get that many answers from searching

[sappermk2]

I hate to sound like a dink... but you really need the Bently for that one.. pretty much step by step with pics...

Good luck

[BCsniper]

I'm sick of having to buy a new bentley book everytime I get a new Audi, then to just have the book show you a big diagram showing everything taken apart with no good clear instructions on how to dis/reassamble everything.

I remember reading some threads from way back of some torrent sites that you can get the same book audi techs basically use (much more in depth than the bentley) but its been so long I dont really remember much about it

[guzerone]

I'd check local listings for shops that rebuild electric motors and alternators.
I had my last alternator (Porsche 996) rebuilt at a local shop for $180, dropped it off in the morning, picked it up again after work.

[UnstableOS]

I'm sick of having to buy a new bentley book everytime I get a new Audi, then to just have the book show you a big diagram showing everything taken apart with no good clear instructions on how to dis/reassamble everything.

I remember reading some threads from way back of some torrent sites that you can get the same book audi techs basically use (much more in depth than the bentley) but its been so long I dont really remember much about it

The program you are referring to is called Elsawin. Download that, extract it and then you will need to burn a copy of the included Audi CD to load during the ElsaWin install.. It's pretty simple if you are computer savvy. There are some decent instructions included along with a keygen.. I got it from isohunt.com if I'm not mistaken.

Also, if I remember correctly you should be able to get at the alternator from the service position on a lift.

[deviant-customs]

I'd check local listings for shops that rebuild electric motors and alternators.
I had my last alternator (Porsche 996) rebuilt at a local shop for $180, dropped it off in the morning, picked it up again after work.

X2 i did the same thing. Rebuilt it. took 2 days though cause he had to wait on parts from Audi. so it is still just as good as new with audi parts. Have had no problems with it since and was WAY cheaper.

All the guy did was alternators starters and axles.

[BCsniper]

The program you are referring to is called Elsawin. Download that, extract it and then you will need to burn a copy of the included Audi CD to load during the ElsaWin install.. It's pretty simple if you are computer savvy. There are some decent instructions included along with a keygen.. I got it from isohunt.com if I'm not mistaken.

Also, if I remember correctly you should be able to get at the alternator from the service position on a lift.

Thanks, I remember the download taking like 100 steps to finish which is why I ignored it the last time.

Any insight on how the get the alternator out without taking the entire radiator off would be very helpful. If its possible to do it just in the service position then it'll be one hell of a tight fit.

Also, deviat, what was wrong with your alternator when you had it fixed, maybe mine's not completely shot.

[live2shrednm]

just had mine replaced... battery, alternator and serp belt = $1560

[JeST]

just had mine replaced... battery, alternator and serp belt = $1560

... ouch.

Your trim pieces are suede...? Any pics of that? You wrapped it yourself?

[live2shrednm]

... ouch.

Your trim pieces are suede...? Any pics of that? You wrapped it yourself?

Yeah big ouch lol, just means longer time to get my suspension. But im doing a full orange vinyl wrap so thats in the works. I can get some pics tomorrow. I had a buddy of mine do it.. Turned out great! Im getting it redone in black now cause of the orange ;)

[BCsniper]

buummp

So after the month long wait to get my S back on the road, progress has again come to halt.

The bumper went back on today with my new (..more like used) alternator installed. After hooking everything back up, refilling fluids and removing jack stands; I started the car for the first time in quite awhile. My dash was light up nicely with CEL, traction warning, and of course the lovely battery light was still there. I assumed that most likely 2 out of the 3 of those would go away pretty quick. Since I had pretty much no gas, I ran out to the Shell and back. By the time I got home the only thing left was the battery warning light. Around an hour later I jump back in the car to take off, more or less hoping that light will just go off eventually. Fast forward 15-20 its the same story as before all over again. I get the "you're battery die" warning in the DIS and the car start to die just as I get to a friends house. Since he just had no jumper cables I just limped to an AutoZone about a mile away. They scanned it and said the battery is still good but its not receiving any power. It would still let me barely push it along if I tried by little bit waiting while the battery recharged then drive for 2-4 min before it'd start to die again. I got a few miles away out of town closer to my house before getting one of my parents to come meet me to bring jumper cables so I could get a quick charge enough to get back home.

So now after all of the work and heartache I am back to square one with my battery still getting no power for whatever reason.

My belt and tensioner seemed like they were in fine condition, is there anything else it could be?

[JimmyBones]

BCsniper, I remember helping you with this and it was a used alternator that you replaced the old one with. I hate to say it but you may have to do that repair again with a brand spanking new shiny alternator. Best of luck and at least you should remember how to do the repair so it will take less time if you have to do it again.

Also the traction warning was on because the steering angle sensor lost its calibration so it needed a drive to relearn and the CEL was probably because of the low battery voltage.

[BCsniper]

Yeah I really don't think it'd be too hard to get it out again now that everything's not so stuck onto everything else.

Anyway to check the alternator to find why its not making power? Since I have 2 now it'd be nice if I could just get one or the other rebuilt instead of buying a brand new one. I was kind of worried about it since this one was used but the guy who I bought it from's engine was replaced for other reasons so I had expected the alternator to be fine

[JimmyBones]

I have to ask the dumb question first so did you remember to plug the connector back in on the back of the alternator to where you heard it click? Other than that I usually use the shop's midtronics tester to test the system and it would probably say no charging voltage or diode ripple present on your car which equals a charging system problem known as a bad alternator since these cars don't have a battery manager control module.

[G-Bus]

You guys dont need to buy new alternators. You can just get yours refurbished if I could say. I have this place my dad knows, he does starters and alternators. So you basically bring him you're old one, he takes it apart, changes everything inside, sand blasts it, makes it look like new and puts it back together for usually less than 200$ depending on what has to be changed.

[blkonblkS4]

It could be bad, but highly unlikely if the last one is fine. Are you sure your tensioner is good? Your belt could be slipping and causing the problem. Was it ever replaced? Also if you are going through all of the effort to replace the alt. you should probably have it tested before even putting it in.

[BCsniper]

I have to ask the dumb question first so did you remember to plug the connector back in on the back of the alternator to where you heard it click? Other than that I usually use the shop's midtronics tester to test the system and it would probably say no charging voltage or diode ripple present on your car which equals a charging system problem known as a bad alternator since these cars don't have a battery manager control module.

I'm actually not sure since its was my dad who plugged it in and hooked up the cable in the back but I'm sure he would have.

You guys dont need to buy new alternators. You can just get yours refurbished if I could say. I have this place my dad knows, he does starters and alternators. So you basically bring him you're old one, he takes it apart, changes everything inside, sand blasts it, makes it look like new and puts it back together for usually less than 200$ depending on what has to be changed.

well since I paid less than the price to fix one of these I didn't see it as a bad deal.

It could be bad, but highly unlikely if the last one is fine. Are you sure your tensioner is good? Your belt could be slipping and causing the problem. Was it ever replaced? Also if you are going through all of the effort to replace the alt. you should probably have it tested before even putting it in.

tensioner looked fine. The last alternator was bad to all my knowledge. And you think if I had the tools to do so I wouldn't have tested it? I'm no dealer......my toolbox is a pretty limited one

[ozo101]

i have a perfect alternator out of the engine I just replaced , sounds familiar? anyways here there is also a place that rebuilds them for about 100 to 200, If I needed one I would probably go that route