What alternator are you using?

How long is it lasting (hours, miles, time) before it has to be replaced?

What sort of electrical load are you running? (stock work truck, high line truck, accessories, etc.)


The factory alternator on many appear to be as small as 90Amp units.

 

Stock, original, 122000 miles, normal loads if you consider charging 5th wheel batteries while driving normal. When it goes I am going as big as possible without major mods or big money

 

I just had an alternator fail after about 1 year... it is a AC-Delco reman 110A and I have at present, no unusual loads on it.

What I am doing is re-running the calculations the manufacturer should have ran, and see what specs the alternator needs.

Is it my impression that alternator rebuilders / makers have sharply lowered the quality level of their products in the past 10 years?

In terms of duty cycle, reliability of the parts, etc.

 

Same load as ricatic..but mine went out at 75,000 miles

 

Mine went at 76000. Stock truck power except when towing.

 

mine went bad at 96k...researched it and ended up with a retail O'Reilly Auto Parts unit that has a lifetime warranty. It seems to charge my stock config'd truck just fine! And when / if it does go bad I just exchange it...no worries!

 

we dont see many failing, the oem units seem to last for the most part. have had issues with the ham and egger bringing in his own from the "parts house" that was $50 cheeper

 

my original lasted 164000 miles and a new napa cost 173.00 because we are a used car dealership.

 

stock went out at 32000 replaced with an aftermarket, and replaced that one 15000 miles ago.

 

Me too. Sarge and I were thinking about trying to get a "group buy" together on a 200 Amp alternator and maybe save 10-20%. We just keep getting side tracked w/ "toys". Are you interetsed down the road in something like that? The higher end ones are pricey, but that is what I had in mind ........

 

Mark:

Before you do your alternator buy.. please stay tuned... there are some other places to throw your money while you are doing alternators.

I need a couple days to confirm the facts before I post.

 

Sounds good. I am on my way to look into some wiring upgrades (alternator-to-battery and battery-to-battery). Looking at 0 gauge upgrade.

 

Mark:

Check out Ford PN:

WPT-118

1U2Z-14S411-TA

Wiring pigtail kit.

This is the pigtail that goes from the alternator to the (a) battery, (b) instrument panel battery warning light.

It plugs right onto the alternator, and of course, is subject to all the stresses of the motor / alternator's vibration.

My immediate question: did Ford issue a much more beefier replacement part than the factory one?

I can't tell because I don't have the truck this weekend --- but I will upload photos of the stock and the new part.

I am not getting voltage (ignition on) on the Alternator / Battery Warning lamp wire (I) with the ignition on.

I am getting a normal battery voltage from the A (sense) wire.


Suspects:

There are two possible alternator arrangements:

6G with PCM, or directly wired via the battery warning lamp circuit.


https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/9...or-no-ecm.html

On factory dual alternators, it has to be through the PCM ---- so they split the load between the alternators.

However, I do not have dual alternators, so I suspect I have the simpler one that dchamberline mentioned in the above link.


A) If I have a PCM controlled alternator (I) wire, then it is from PCM / Instrument panel onwards

B) If I have just a battery warning light / resistor, the suspect is in the pigtail which is the above part.


I am about to figure this out... and may add the pigtail to the list of known weak parts...

 

let me help here, the alternator is not pcm controlled. its just an old school unit with a built in regulator. you should have voltage on both wires at the pig tail with the key on engine off.

we already know about the pig tail concerns and do see it often enugh. the wireing is the same size just the inslation is a tad bit thicker.

we see burnt connectors, and wires broken right at the entry point in to the hard shell. the burt connector is imp caused by excessive current draw. the broken wires are normally caused by incorrect instaltion or not enugh slack in harness.

 

cheezit

Thanks again for helping....

I am of the opinion that R&R of the alternator a year ago might have something to do with the alternator harness being stressed --- beyond the normal stress from a electrical wire on a vibrating part.

Note that the new wire is much longer --- which means more stress relief.

I am going to make full use of it, and also use split plastic tubing to help reduce some of the shock / vibration damage on the wiring.


BTW, looking at the gauge of the wiring... it is mighty thin --- and that seems to be the case that sometime in the 2000s, Ford really cut the gauge of the vehicle wiring.


I am not going to upgrade the alternator wire to the battery this time (combination of laziness and time), but will be posting a note th at upgrade of wiring is critical for any alternator beyond standard size.


My rationale:

It looks like the existing alternator wire is 10awg wire.

For me, that wire runs to the starter, and then the battery cables look like 8awg all the way to the middle of the vehicle (E series battery boxes).

My estimate is that a 6.0 easily pull a continuous load of 60 to 80amps in normal operations.

That is just not enough.

Current thinking is to upgrade the wiring to 4awg or 2awg.

Then fuse it with a 150amp fuse (maximum alternator output) to protect the alternator.


IMHO, upgrading alternators without upgrading wiring and fuse is not advisable --

If you are upgrading alternators, might as well put in a new pigtail to replace the old one --- just to be sure.

Ford is cutting it too close to the margins on wiring --- and expensive copper.