FOREIGN aisle
Alternators and starters, shelved by make on South 11th Street
Charging faults and no-crank complaints both start at the same shelves: alternators and starters sorted by make, with a hand-marked FOREIGN aisle for import parts.
Chapter 01
What sends a charging or starting system to us
A battery warning light, headlights that dim at idle, or a battery that's dead again by morning usually points to the alternator, not the battery itself. A no-crank, a single click and nothing else when you turn the key, points the other way, toward the starter. Both are common enough that we keep shelves of each, sorted and tagged.
Either fault can strand a truck or car in a parking lot without warning, and a used alternator or starter pulled from a running vehicle does the same job as the one that failed. Sorting them by make keeps the shelf fast to search once you call.
Shelves of used alternators and starters with a hand-marked FOREIGN grease-pencil tag
Shelved by make, tagged by hand
Domestic units sit on their own shelves, and imports go in a section marked FOREIGN in grease pencil, the same hand-tagging every part in the yard gets. Each alternator and starter carries its own stock tag, so Dave at the counter can find the one that matches your vehicle before you make the drive to 450 S. 11th Street.
Give the counter your year, make, model and engine size when you call the shop at (414) 643-1189, along with the amperage printed on the old unit's label if you still have it. That combination is usually enough to narrow the shelf down to the exact part that fits your vehicle, foreign or domestic.
Chapter 03
Bring the old part before you leave the counter
Bring the alternator or starter you pulled off the vehicle, even if it's the one that failed. Comparing it side by side against what's on the shelf, the mounting ears, the plug shape, the pulley type and the amperage label, is the fastest way to make sure you're leaving with the right one.
It also saves a second trip. A part that looks close on paper can still be wrong on the mounting ears or the plug, and matching it in hand at the counter on South 11th Street catches that before you're back in the yard.
A & D Truck & Auto Parts, 450 S. 11th Street, Milwaukee. Rated 4.3 on Google from 58 reviews. Call (414) 643-1189.