Alternator Bushings

[clovett]

I ordered two bushings for my alternator but since the local re-builder did such an absolute awesome job on my starters finish (I used to be in the rebuilding business) I let them do the alternator too. They do a glass bead blasting on the housings before they shot peen it. Cleanest finish outside of new I've ever seen.

Anyways I asked them to replace the two rubber grommets. They had given me a tour of the shop before and know I was in the business. They liked that I know what they do. The guy goes back and comes out with a new front housing that has no grommets and says I can take either one but he recommended eliminating the grommets. I thought about it and decided that's probably what breaks that weak upper bracket. So no more grommets.

Mistake or good call?

[Kershaw]

Grommets? What grommets? I'm not quite following here. Does it still have a bushing?

If your alternator has 2 rubber bushings and you didn't originally, you're going to need to add a ground wire from the alternator chassis to the car chassis.

[superj]

I have no idea what grommets, either

[clovett]

I ordered two bushings for my alternator but since the local re-builder did such an absolute awesome job on my starters finish (I used to be in the rebuilding business) I let them do the alternator too. They do a glass bead blasting on the housings before they shot peen it. Cleanest finish outside of new I've ever seen.

Anyways I asked them to replace the two rubber grommets. They had given me a tour of the shop before and know I was in the business. They liked that I know what they do. The guy goes back and comes out with a new front housing that has no grommets and says I can take either one but he recommended eliminating the grommets. I thought about it and decided that's probably what breaks that weak upper bracket. So no more grommets.

Mistake or good call?

When I removed the alternator it was mounted at an angle and had two rubber "grommets" that the bolts slid through for mounting. After 18 years the "grommets" had started to break down. It has a grounding strap.

I went to a local shop and they offered to replace the front housing with two "grommets" with a similar housing that is all aluminum eliminating the "grommets". I thought about it and decided to do that.

Can anyone see any issues with doing this? It lines up fine so I am thinking it's an upgrade.

[Kershaw]

Well if you went with an all aluminum housing you won't need the grounding strap, but you can still use it anyway.

[richardodn]

Grommets are the term for rubber isolator/seal that passes through something like a firewall. It's purpose is to protect the cable. Bushings are what you had in the alternator. There purpose is to reduce noise and vibration. There should be no issues resulting from the switch to the non-bushing version. Go ahead and eliminate the ground strap.