alternator pulley broke

[freeballer16]

so i was driving down the main road and my steering goes out...so im like okay my belt is off...i pull into autozone(very hard to turn) and i look in my hood and my alternator pulley broke off the alternator. i was surprised...does anyone have any ideas why this would happen

91 deville by the way

[caddydaddy]

Hmmm...very strange! Well, did it break off, or did the nut that holds the pulley onto the alternator shaft come loose and it fell off? A rebuilt alternator is around $90, so it isn't too pricey to replace.

[freeballer16]

i looked inside where the bolt would be and it was broke off because half of it was jammed in there, and this alternator i had just bought on august 20th...lucky for me i have a life time warrenty, but i wouldnt mind knowing how it happened

[caddydaddy]

Originally Posted by freeballer16

i looked inside where the bolt would be and it was broke off because half of it was jammed in there, and this alternator i had just bought on august 20th...lucky for me i have a life time warrenty, but i wouldnt mind knowing how it happened

Did the bearings inside it seize, or did the shaft just break? Sounds like metal fatigue. Who knows how many miles were on the alternator before it was rebuilt!

[freeballer16]

umm i just bought it august 20, 2006 so theres like what 200 miles on it? lol maybe it was just a bad alternator..and i think it was the shaft just broke

[caddydaddy]

Originally Posted by freeballer16

umm i just bought it august 20, 2006 so theres like what 200 miles on it? lol maybe it was just a bad alternator..and i think it was the shaft just broke

What I meant was you don't know how many miles were on it BEFORE it was rebuilt! The shaft may have just failed from fatigue or a stress crack.