Shoutout to the guy at O'Reilly's who talked me through a bad alternator swap

My 2005 F-150 died at a gas station in Tacoma last Tuesday and I figured it was the alternator since the battery light was flickering. I swapped it in the parking lot but forgot to tighten the ground strap enough and it arced against the frame and fried the voltage regulator on the new part. Has anyone else had a simple job turn into a nightmare because of one dumb missed step?

2 comments

2 Comments

abby30827d agoMost Upvoted

Did you have to buy another new alternator after that, or were you able to get a warranty replacement from O'Reilly's since the first one fried? I've always wondered how they handle stuff like that when it's clearly an installation mistake. I've seen their warranty be pretty strict about electrical damage from improper installs.

wright.taylor27d ago

Depends on the store but mine just swapped it no questions asked.