I run several things that put a strain on my stock alternator so I went to see what my options were on upgrading it. Working in an autoparts store gives me lots of ideas.

One day this guy called about an alternator for a 97 dodge 3/4ton diesel. I looked up the part and noticed it was an import alternator and was rated at 120amp. I quoted him the price of $125 (not including core charge) and after I was done helping him I went to inspect the alternator.

The part number is 14430 and it bolts up EXACTLY like the stock FC 70 amp alternator except its a little deeper. The alternator is externally regulated. I bought one earlier today to bolt it on. Its installed right now and putting out 120amps. My lights are bright, my car runs cooler and I am very very happy with this DIY mod. Glad I thought of it. The voltage regulator I used is GP Sorensen part #vr295 (used on 70's dodge/chrystler) It comes with instructions LOL. This was so easy to wire. Its only two wires and bolting the regulator on the wheel well.

The only things I had to do to the alternator to make it fit were: I had to sand down the rear ear of the alternator about 1mm with a file (took 5 mins with an old file), Dremel grind the plastic housing for the B+ on the alternator (otherwise your intercooler will not want to bolt on all the way. Buy two new belts (I used 15330 33.0" v-belt) also the new alternator comes with a dual pulley which fits right on with no modifications.

Wiring the voltage regulator was also pretty easy. The 2 wire connector that goes on the oem alternator has a BLACK/white wire and a WHITE/black. I used the BLACK/white wire and ran that to the center pin on the voltage regulator and one of the field outputs on the alternator (doesnt matter which one). The other field on the alternator goes on the remaining spot on the voltage regulator.

I recommend using a larger B+ wire going to the battery to get the most of this 120amp and to prevent a fire.

This unit works beautifully. If anyone needs assistane/advice let me know.

Good luck
TRU

 

That sounds awesome! Can you tell me what other vehicles came with that alternator please? I'm heading to the local pick-a-part this weekend and I'd like to nab the alternator there if I could.

 

**** i dont know.. go to www.advanceautoparts.com and search some of the 91-00 dodge diesel engines. if it has a 5 digit part number that starts with a 1 and its lifetime warranty chances are its an import alternator. Just see what vehicles use the 14430. I am guessing 95-00 dodge 3/4 ton and 1 ton trucks, maybe vans too.

good luck

 

Nice work... I'm figuring out how to put on a mustang aftermarket 200 amp alternator on my TII. Shouldn't be too hard, considering my alt already needed custom brackets... Wiring will be pretty easy too, Its just findign the proper pulley diameter to engergise the alt at idle, yet keep the alternator below 18,000 rpm...

 

kewl, thanks.

 

What are your pulley diameters, on crank and alt?

 

sounds like you gonna be doing some grinding or dremeling :P

 

Try welding and drilling. My alt isn't in the stock location... something else sits there *wink*.

 

as soon as i find out where my little brother put it, i will go outside and measure them.

:P later tonight
TRU

 

awlright, I don't want to sound dumb but I got a question. I searched at Advanceautoparts.com and found the alternator you bought (along with a bunch of others) under the parts for a '90 Dodge pickup. Does that mean that any of those alternators would fit like yours?

 

yep thats the same one.

 

Excellent! Looks like I have another item to add to my junkyard list.

 

not to be pesimistic here or anything[i'm looking for a higher output alternator myself],but,the redline on a 3/4ton diesel canot be very high....i must wonder how this puppy would do at 8krpm...Wich brings up another question some1 might be able to answer.when a alternator is rated 120amps,what rpm would it be rated at?is that vehicle dependent,or is there a industrie standard of some sort?or is it just the max power attainable?[i guess at some rpm power production might taper off..?]
also,anybody know if t2 cars have more clearance around the alt. then n/a cars?i sure dont have a lot of extra room there since i installed my s5 intake.but,hopefully this will work out!awesome find!
david

 

One more thing, I did have to hack some of the brackets that were orignally on there to make this thing completely fit. I will try to take some pictures tommorow with the intercooler removed because I have noticed that the travel on my gas pedal has been decreased.

Everything cant be right the first time though so I will keep messing with it till I get it right.

I think in responce to wankelhead the size of the pulley can also be changed (as scathcart kinda pointed to earlier) in order to not fry the alternator.

 

too bad its from a dodge haha i plan on doing a 3rd gen alt swap to my FC. its supposed to be a good upgrade,plus its actualy a mazda part hehehe

 

and a lot easier.

 

Hey, TRU,

I realized by the part numbers and brand names that you must have been working at Advance, before I read any of the other posts.

Guess how I knew that...

Ren

 

i plan to do the same as well, i should be doing it next week. any idea on what the size of the bolt on the pulley shaft is?

 

Here's My alternator. It came from a Ford Contour V6 which is 120 AMP stock. It was rewound to 200 Amps. All done by www.egrproducts.com. They included everything u needed, even the pulley and a couple of small spacers. They even rewired it to match the engines wiring, making the wiring very easy. The only tough part, not really, was making a bracket to replace the one that bends. All you needed was a straight bracket. So pretty simple.



But the Ford Contour V6 Alternator fit in like a champ.

LoS

 

Can you show a side by side picture of the alternators?
What was the diameter of the equipped pulley?

Also note that there are 3 alternators for the pickups. 90/120/140 amp depending on year/options/ etc.

Alternator bearings are generic. Most engines do not sit at 8000rpm for any long period of time. I wouldn't worry about it.

Concerning the FD part, being an actual Mazda part and being made by Mazda are two different things.

Another thing people should consider is heat output of the alternator. As the alternator warms up, its power decreases. If it is capable of putting out more power, it is producing more heat. Heat also shortens the life of the alternator. External regulation is a good thing.

There are a tons of other spindle/pivot/swing mount alternators that fit. Its good to know that the Dodge one fits and earlier this month someone said that their alternator was based on the Ford Contour 120amp unit. I guess that there are alot of others choices for those who are willing to research make/model/current rating etc.

 

I have that same ford alternator on mine, but it was built to 190 amp. It required a little bit of fitting and griding, but now it looks great. You can look at the picture at www.prabalsingh.com. Look under "turbo club" and then under "grahams rx7"

Hope that gives a little help

Graham

 

TRURX7

whats the core charge? and can bring my T2 alt in for the core?

 

most places dont check the cores. I am sure you can get away with bringing the core in later so they cant compare it.

Update: The OMP linkage from the throttle was in the way and I could not grind the plastic B+ housing enought to make it get out of the way. The only way you could get away using this alternator is moving the linkage and the intercooler to another location.

I did everything I could to try to make the thing fit but thats the only way it could be in addition you would prolly have to go with a 35" belts and bolt the alternator bracket towards the driver side on a bolt that is up higher on the water pump.

 

I've done the 3rd gen alternator swap on my '87 T2, let me know if anyone needs help.

 

how much was your alternator?did they sell u a new[rebuilt]unit?or did you have to send in a core?