This car isn't about an RX8, but I did used to have a beloved 2009 R3 and was hoping to get some insight on another fellow Mazda car.

I have a 2010 Mazda 3 Hatchback 2.5 L and I found out today that I have a faulty alternator that is not charging the battery properly (The alternator is at around 25 - 50 AMPS at load where it should be at around 100 AMPS).

I asked a mechanic nearby and was quoted approximately $850 CAD for the alternator and serpentine belt replacement.

I was pretty confident in being able to replace the alternator by myself so I was calling local auto part (Lordco) shops and found out that alternator itself costed around $530 CAD and the serpentine belt costed around $80 CAD which totals to around $610 CAD.

I figured that's also a lot so I did some more research and found some re-manufactured alternators on Rock Auto which ranged from $150 to $250 for the alternator.

Links for the alternators:

1. Alternator 1
   
2. Alternator 2
   

Also another problem is that I'm moving to Toronto from Vancouver in a week for about 3 months and I'm wondering if it's okay for me to leave the car sitting for that long. (Obviously I will have the battery unplugged and fill it up with fuel and stuff) So if I did decide to order the re-manufactured alternators, it wouldn't come on time and I would have to fix it after I come back from Toronto.

With all the in mind, I was wondering which options I should take? I've never DIY'ed an alternator swap, but am pretty comfortable with mechanical stuff (Had a project RX-8 last year to work on). I don't know how reliable re-manufactured alternators are despite the descriptions and since buying from Lordco only makes ~$100 difference from the mechanics, I could just get it done by them.

Let me know your guys' input as any experience would help me decide what to do!

 

Alternators are pretty simple. A remanufactured unit is fine, I'd even suggest checking with salvage yards. My local junkyard lets you will pull parts yourself, after a $1 entry fee. An alternator from any vehicle is $28 + $15 (refundable core charge). I'm not sure how that translates from USD to CAD. I've done this in the past, it may not be new, but its oem and usually you can find a low mileage unit.

Edit: Keep in mind that the Mazda3 is FWD not RWD like an RX-8, typically you're going to have a slightly harder time accessing components on a FWD. That's only because the engines get crammed in there sideways, I wouldn't let that dissuade you though.

 

Do you have an account at Lordco?

Their walk in pricing is very stupid... account price will likely be about 40% less