My alternator puts out 13.4 volts at idle, no accessories, and in park. If I turn on the ac in park it drops down to 12.9-12.5, then lights it goes to 12.0-11.8, and if I put it in gear with everything it will jump up and down b/w 11.5 -12.5. I've regrounded the alt as well as run another hot wire from the battery with no change. the alt is about a year old with maybe 100 miles use. Can someone tell me the amperage of a stock alt. I am thinking this one is junk and want to make sure I get the right one or a higher amped one.
alternator
- Thread starter danny
- Start date
Re: alternator
I'm pretty sure the stockers are 105 amps.
I just got one of the 140 amp alts from Ebay that I have heard good things about.
I'm pretty sure the stockers are 105 amps.
I just got one of the 140 amp alts from Ebay that I have heard good things about.
Bill Z
Donating Member
Re: alternator
Danny,
The stock is 105. You can put bigger Amp alternators on (as long as they bolt up). Know Amps and Voltage are not the same but they do work together.
Alternators are designed to start working at a particular RPM. Some of the remanufactures alternators are not good at low RPMs.
Some of these trucks have down sized pulleys that will make the alternator turn slower than stock. If you bump your RPMs up to 1 grand, what is your voltage reading? If it pops back up to 14.5 to 13.5 volts and you have a stock pulley, then it is save to say that your alternator needs something in the low RPM range.
Lastly, make sure the battery connection to your alternator is not corroded. Even a little corrosion here can rob you of voltage.
I hope this helps. Good luck.
danny said:
Danny,
The stock is 105. You can put bigger Amp alternators on (as long as they bolt up). Know Amps and Voltage are not the same but they do work together.
Alternators are designed to start working at a particular RPM. Some of the remanufactures alternators are not good at low RPMs.
Some of these trucks have down sized pulleys that will make the alternator turn slower than stock. If you bump your RPMs up to 1 grand, what is your voltage reading? If it pops back up to 14.5 to 13.5 volts and you have a stock pulley, then it is save to say that your alternator needs something in the low RPM range.
Lastly, make sure the battery connection to your alternator is not corroded. Even a little corrosion here can rob you of voltage.
I hope this helps. Good luck.
George Blake
DONATING MEMBER
Re: alternator
I did the ebay company as well. Bolted right in. 140 amps. He explained that anything over 140 amps they had trouble burning up rectifiers and diodes. 140 seems to be the max that setup likes without going totally custom or iceberg style. Good man and ships pretty quick. I'll put some info up in my forum.
Your alternator sounds about like normal.
If you put a meter ON the alternator, you will get a different reading than with datamaster. Be aware that if you are taking a datamaster reading, you are getting what the ECM sees. Not what the alternator is putting out. There have been people have some luck grounding the case of the ecm AND running 12 volts straight from the battery. I think Dig did a writeup on which contacts to use.
I did the ebay company as well. Bolted right in. 140 amps. He explained that anything over 140 amps they had trouble burning up rectifiers and diodes. 140 seems to be the max that setup likes without going totally custom or iceberg style. Good man and ships pretty quick. I'll put some info up in my forum.
Your alternator sounds about like normal.
If you put a meter ON the alternator, you will get a different reading than with datamaster. Be aware that if you are taking a datamaster reading, you are getting what the ECM sees. Not what the alternator is putting out. There have been people have some luck grounding the case of the ecm AND running 12 volts straight from the battery. I think Dig did a writeup on which contacts to use.
Re: alternator
I had my alt checked today and I was told it's working fine, so now I need to check all my wires. I bought a new exciter/guage plug (b/c my clip broke off) for my alt and my new plug has a 10g red wire comming from it as well as a brown and black. My stock plug just had 2 wires. Can someone tell me where to run the red wire? Any help would be great. Thanks, Danny
I had my alt checked today and I was told it's working fine, so now I need to check all my wires. I bought a new exciter/guage plug (b/c my clip broke off) for my alt and my new plug has a 10g red wire comming from it as well as a brown and black. My stock plug just had 2 wires. Can someone tell me where to run the red wire? Any help would be great. Thanks, Danny
George Blake
DONATING MEMBER
Re: alternator
Mine only has one excitation wire. Other syty's are probably the same. Can't see them changing the harness for one truck. Some alternators required different setups and the aftermarket plugs vary to cover those needs.
The stock alternator was just made to cover the stock needs. It's not gonna go up hardly at all with all the accessories turned on.
Mine only has one excitation wire. Other syty's are probably the same. Can't see them changing the harness for one truck. Some alternators required different setups and the aftermarket plugs vary to cover those needs.
The stock alternator was just made to cover the stock needs. It's not gonna go up hardly at all with all the accessories turned on.
George Blake
DONATING MEMBER
Re: alternator
Well my Ebay alternator went out. Lasted about 1000 miles. Sometimes it's quiet, sometimes it sounds like marbles in a can, sometimes it shounds like a bent fan blade:tdown:
Well my Ebay alternator went out. Lasted about 1000 miles. Sometimes it's quiet, sometimes it sounds like marbles in a can, sometimes it shounds like a bent fan blade:tdown:
Flyin Ryan
hated cuz he drives fords
Re: alternator
my ebay alt went out last month... sent it back to him and he sent me another same day
his name was Gene I believe
my ebay alt went out last month... sent it back to him and he sent me another same day
his name was Gene I believe
91blazins10
Active member
Re: alternator
I ended up getting one of these http://www.alternatorparts.com/cs130d_cs144_trk_suv_upgrade.htm you have to drill out the bracket a little to make it line up, but I dont see this thing breaking anytime soon.
I ended up getting one of these http://www.alternatorparts.com/cs130d_cs144_trk_suv_upgrade.htm you have to drill out the bracket a little to make it line up, but I dont see this thing breaking anytime soon.
George Blake
DONATING MEMBER
Re: alternator
I'll call him Monday. Yep. Same guy. Gene McGowan.
877-734-3381
"McGowan's Starter & Alternator"
714 N. George St.
Goldsboro, NC
27533
I hope he does. He seemed like a really nice fella when I spoke to him before. I just hope this doesn't turn into every 1000 miles sending it back for repair.
I'll call him Monday. Yep. Same guy. Gene McGowan.
877-734-3381
"McGowan's Starter & Alternator"
714 N. George St.
Goldsboro, NC
27533
I hope he does. He seemed like a really nice fella when I spoke to him before. I just hope this doesn't turn into every 1000 miles sending it back for repair.
Flyin Ryan
hated cuz he drives fords
Re: alternator
yeah same dude.. and yeah hope this isn't gonna turn into a be that kinda thing
George Blake said:
yeah same dude.. and yeah hope this isn't gonna turn into a be that kinda thing
Syclone#892
Member
Re: alternator
These alts that you guys are getting from ebay can you take a look at the alt from the front? Check the housing behind the fan you will see either 3 or 5 pieces going from the housing to the bearing. Its hard for me to explain but you are looking at the actual housing right behind the fan.
If it has 3 then its a small bearing alt if it has 5 then its the big bearing alt. The small bearing alts blow up the bearings very often and will lock up and stop the engine or break the housing etc.
When my dad builds these alts we only use the big bearing housing and have not had a problem with any of them. The 140 amp puts out a lot more heat also which makes the bearing fail even quicker.
When my dad took apart my powermaster alt that came with my serp belt setup they use the small bearing housing and he said they had real cheap quality parts in it. Doesnt surpise us since all the stories we heard of them blowing up on guys here.
These alts that you guys are getting from ebay can you take a look at the alt from the front? Check the housing behind the fan you will see either 3 or 5 pieces going from the housing to the bearing. Its hard for me to explain but you are looking at the actual housing right behind the fan.
If it has 3 then its a small bearing alt if it has 5 then its the big bearing alt. The small bearing alts blow up the bearings very often and will lock up and stop the engine or break the housing etc.
When my dad builds these alts we only use the big bearing housing and have not had a problem with any of them. The 140 amp puts out a lot more heat also which makes the bearing fail even quicker.
When my dad took apart my powermaster alt that came with my serp belt setup they use the small bearing housing and he said they had real cheap quality parts in it. Doesnt surpise us since all the stories we heard of them blowing up on guys here.
George Blake
DONATING MEMBER
Re: alternator
I'll look when I get home in the morning. Can a 3 bearing unit be upgraded? If not, can I get one from you guys? If this is a 3 piece unit, I can't see it lasting again. It'd be different if I didn't drive my truck everyday but it is a parts running, grocery getter, and pick the little guy up from school thing.
I'll look when I get home in the morning. Can a 3 bearing unit be upgraded? If not, can I get one from you guys? If this is a 3 piece unit, I can't see it lasting again. It'd be different if I didn't drive my truck everyday but it is a parts running, grocery getter, and pick the little guy up from school thing.
Syclone#892 said:
George Blake
DONATING MEMBER
Re: alternator
Can you point out what I'm looking for?
Can you point out what I'm looking for?
Syclone#892
Member
Re: alternator
http://www.sytyarchives.com/howto/v...me=powermaster_alternator.php&dir=electronics
Take a look at that page then scroll down to the point that there are 3 pics in a row its the third pic with the pulley and fan removed when they are rotating the housing, if you look you can see 2 of the 3 supports for the bearing the one being right next to the guys finger.
If your alt looks like that then its a small bearing and is more prone to failure if yours has 5 of those "supports" then its the big bearing which are a lot more reliable.
If you take a look at the back of your alt you can see the bearing and a lot of times that bearing will blow up and it is very obvious to see.
The only thing you can do is replace the housing to get the better style, I believe my dad said the s trucks came with the small bearing and the full size trucks usually had the bigger bearing.
I can talk to my dad and see what his work is getting for the housings and provided nothing else is wrong with it thats what it would cost. But some other parts inside could be bad also hard to say without having it in hand.
I did find this website
www.alternatorparts.com
it seems to have all the parts needed to fix the alt.
It may be cheaper to go that route just because of shipping etc but I will have my dad get a price for doing just the housing.
Just found this pic which shows what I'm talking about clear as day.
https://00dfde1.netsolstores.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWCATS&Category=1942
Good Luck.
http://www.sytyarchives.com/howto/v...me=powermaster_alternator.php&dir=electronics
Take a look at that page then scroll down to the point that there are 3 pics in a row its the third pic with the pulley and fan removed when they are rotating the housing, if you look you can see 2 of the 3 supports for the bearing the one being right next to the guys finger.
If your alt looks like that then its a small bearing and is more prone to failure if yours has 5 of those "supports" then its the big bearing which are a lot more reliable.
If you take a look at the back of your alt you can see the bearing and a lot of times that bearing will blow up and it is very obvious to see.
The only thing you can do is replace the housing to get the better style, I believe my dad said the s trucks came with the small bearing and the full size trucks usually had the bigger bearing.
I can talk to my dad and see what his work is getting for the housings and provided nothing else is wrong with it thats what it would cost. But some other parts inside could be bad also hard to say without having it in hand.
I did find this website
www.alternatorparts.com
it seems to have all the parts needed to fix the alt.
It may be cheaper to go that route just because of shipping etc but I will have my dad get a price for doing just the housing.
Just found this pic which shows what I'm talking about clear as day.
https://00dfde1.netsolstores.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWCATS&Category=1942
Good Luck.
George Blake
DONATING MEMBER
Re: alternator
It looks like I may just get one of the CS-144 alternators at 170 amp.
I was gonna use alternator parts . com but went with the ebay unit based on recommendations here. I'll see what the 144 can do. Bigger design, 10mm bearing, better heat dissapation, higher amp capacity. Should've done that to begin with.
Too many ebay units are failing. They are more than willing to fix it. I send it out. 3 days out. They work on it. 2 to 3 days. 3 days back. Could go out again(up to 20% failure rate) because of bearing failure issues. I'd rather just get a new unit.
It looks like I may just get one of the CS-144 alternators at 170 amp.
I was gonna use alternator parts . com but went with the ebay unit based on recommendations here. I'll see what the 144 can do. Bigger design, 10mm bearing, better heat dissapation, higher amp capacity. Should've done that to begin with.
Too many ebay units are failing. They are more than willing to fix it. I send it out. 3 days out. They work on it. 2 to 3 days. 3 days back. Could go out again(up to 20% failure rate) because of bearing failure issues. I'd rather just get a new unit.
George Blake
DONATING MEMBER
Re: alternator
How did that clear on the backside? I have stock valvecovers and everything.
I have the one battery wire and the single wire in the harness. Is that a direct hookup?
How did that clear on the backside? I have stock valvecovers and everything.
I have the one battery wire and the single wire in the harness. Is that a direct hookup?
91blazins10 said:I ended up getting one of these http://www.alternatorparts.com/cs130d_cs144_trk_suv_upgrade.htm you have to drill out the bracket a little to make it line up, but I dont see this thing breaking anytime soon.
George Blake
DONATING MEMBER
Re: alternator
OK. I did like you did. New 170 amp cs-144 alternator. I'll let you know how it goes. I don't like the idea of replacing it every 500-1000 miles.
OK. I did like you did. New 170 amp cs-144 alternator. I'll let you know how it goes. I don't like the idea of replacing it every 500-1000 miles.