Upgrade Alternator?

[07liftback]

I notice the Yaris stumbling a bit when I turn on the heater (not the AC) which suggests the alternator is quite weak in the Yaris. Never had this issue on the 15 year old Civic I owned back then.
I had a friend who replaced his failing alternator with a rebuilt Denso one and it failed in a year. Was told by an ex mechanic that they usually get their alternators rebuilt at alternator shops who could also upgrade the components. He ended up getting it swapped out at an alternator shop so his old one made up for the core charge.

OP, was your alternator from a 2011 Scion XD? Might be a useful write-up for those of us who want to upgrade if the alternator is failing.

[B.B._07]

Originally Posted by 07liftback

I notice the Yaris stumbling a bit when I turn on the heater (not the AC) which suggests the alternator is quite weak in the Yaris. Never had this issue on the 15 year old Civic I owned back then.

Before you go looking to swap an alternator it's best to confirm the alternator is the issue. Get an multi-meter and check if you have ~14V at the battery terminals with the car at idle.

[07liftback]

Originally Posted by B.B._07

Before you go looking to swap an alternator it's best to confirm the alternator is the issue. Get an multi-meter and check if you have ~14V at the battery terminals with the car at idle.

Good plan, I'll do a test this weekend. It was mainly an observation since I'm not sure if it's normal for the Yaris engine to hesitate a bit with only the fan on.