thanks for your Input Mark!!

 

i went through four o'rielly alternators in 30 days before i got one that worked. well so far it is working. i am going to get a dc power one next month.

 

My car eats 1 of those a Year Average and thats no big deal to change got it down to 10-15minutes just did one 2-3 weeks ago they didnt even test it just gave me another

Just the 6.0L so Electronicaly controlled BAD Alternators Often Kill the FICM too

just alittle Higher risk with Newer Vehicles than the old stuff

 

The alternator that was put in is a O'reilys 130 amp. Everything worked fine all day, then later tonight when I started it up the battery light came on, and went away as I drove off, and no problems since.

Is there anything else that could be causing that light to come on? Or something else killing the alternator? Both batteries should be good, I think. Should I change them out?

Also, why is the 300 amp spx cheaper than the xp 270 and 250? All the specifications are more than both of those when you put your mouse over the picture?

 

that pretty much sums it up. i put on an OEM unit six months
ago when my original one died. it doesn't put out enough
voltgage to fully charge my batteries. neither did the original.

DC power has the sp and the spx. get the sp.

the difference between the two is the sp uses square drawn
wire in the core. it's better for a number of reasons, like eddy
currents and hysteresis loss, yada yada, geek speek, yada...

i was gonna get the spx, and folks here said.. no... get the sp,
and i called DC and they said.... get the sp.... and i asked what
the difference was, and other than the CNC machined housing
that looks all purty like, y'know... it's the winding.

ed @ ficmrepair.com is a distributor of them.... i bought mine
thru him, and picked it up at DC power, as they are local to me.
saved shipping and tax, and ed made a bit of money on it,
so everyone came out ok.

the sp regulates at 14.8 volts, about a full volt higher than oem.
the oem in there right now, (i haven't had time to change it out,
work has been a bit nuts) sits at 13.6-13.8 volts and when playing
the stereo as excessively loud as it would go, you are down into the
12's.... OEM won't even keep up with the stereo, let alone the 100+
amps when starting up cold in the morning.

 

The XP's are different.... They are the "cream of the crop" for DC Power (so to speak). Because of the rectangular copper wire wraps that the XP's use they are able to be wound tighter letting them make good low end voltage, run cooler (heat kills alternators), and I believe they are lighter as well. Read their literature as they have done an excellent job explaining the differences. The SPX is a pretty sweet looking alternator with it's custom aluminimum housing but at the end of the day it wasn't about physical appearance that made me buy their product..... It was functionality as well as the reliability and longevity that sold me on the XP. Call them and talk to Stan..... there is a toll free number on their website and he can go through everything with you just as he did with me. As for the wire upgrade kit.... It is a 1/0 oxy-free kit and it very good qualty wire with a nice fuse (I did order the wire upgrade kit).

I just got the last bit of 1/0 and 2/0 cable in the other day for my little DC Power alternator/rewiring project and I hope to get it installed today. I will have before and after pics of charging on my Insight monitor along with pics of the wire upgrades as well. The one thing they recommended on my 270XP was upgrading the grounds and charge wires to at least a 1 gauge.... The kit they provide beefs up one of the main ground (drivers side only... passenger side is trickier and requires a bit more work). There are a total of 3 grounds on the passenger side;

1) main ground from battery to engine
2) ground from engine to frame
3) ground from battery to body

To get the grounding all done and installed correctly you will need to remove the cac tube on the passenger side and that gives you easy access to the engine to frame ground. Very easy stuff!

The other ground on the drivers side is simple... Remove the cac tube and you have easy access.

They provide only one 1/0 cable with fuse for the positive side.... it goes from the back of the alternator to the + side of the passenger side battery terminal. Here is where I suggest you make at least one change/upgrade to you trucks charge system. The positive cable that runs from the passenger side battery to the drivers side battery is only 4 gauge..... I upgraded this to the 1/0 oxy-free as well to make sure charging remains equal. Stan had thought the cable was already 1 gauge but that is not the case so upgrade it if possible. I am replacing everything with high end cables.... All charge cables, grounds and also swapping out the + starter cable from the battery to a 2/0 oxy free cable. This is likely overkill but the way I see it, I have spent the money on a fine alternator that's going to last awhile and save thousands of dollars in future battery and ficm replacements so I may as well give it the best cable/wire I can find.

Another thing.... Make sure you tell them to send you the spacers and extended bolts in your kit!!!! They seem to slack off and not send them because it "can" work without them. If you don't put them in, the serpentine belt will not run as tight as it should and it "may" slip if you are revved out towing up a hill with a load on and that bloody fan kicks into the max setting! I know it will happen cuz mine already does this stock so "decreasing" belt tension in any way is a definite no-no.

DC Power is good shizz.... Google their stuff (more specifically the 270XP) and you will find no negative feedback ANYWHERE! I also checked them out on Youtube and was pleasantly surprised. The young bucks have been using their alternators for quite some time blowing their eardrums out with those boomboxes and they were definitely onto something with these alternators!

 

Is the cheapest DC alt (185 amps) just a bolt on or do you still need to upgrade all the wires and get longer bolts and everything?

 

I spoke with Stan at DC several weeks ago and he advised that you should do a voltage drop test from the alt to the battery. If within parameters no need to upgrade wires with their OEM units. I believe if you are less that .5 on the test you are good, but I didn't get clarification because my alt hasn't kicked the bucket yet. I was just exploring my options.

 

You don't need longer bolts.... use your original bolts and not the ones they supply with the kit. The bolts they supply are too short and are designed to be used WITHOUT the spacers.... you NEED the spacers. I just added some pics to a thread I had started a week or so ago if you want to take a look at the completed instal along with comparisons in voltage/charging between OEM and DC Power 270 XP..... also a few pics of the difference between the recommended 1/0 gauge wire and the OEM 4 gauge wire.

 

Yeah, you lost me with all that. Looks like if this is what I do I'll be having someone else do it.

So if I were to get the 270XP, I need to order:
1. upgraded wire kit
2. extended bolts and spacers
3. ???
4. profit

So does anyone know why my battery light could still be coming on? Something killing the alternator, batteries going dead, do I need to change them both out..? Anything?

 

Your light coming on is more than likely batteries. If you have a voltmeter or a guage that watches battery voltage you can check it easy enough.
Hook your voltmeter to battery and have someone start the truck. Voltage should be 12.5 or so volts before you start then drop down to about 11.5 at most then after the glowplugs stop jump back up to 13.4 or so.

If the original voltage is less than 12 replace the batteries. IF your voltage drops below 11.5 during that first minute one or both batteries are probably bad pull them out and get them INDIVIDUALLY load tested. If voltage after a minute or 2 doesn't jump back up to 13.5 or so the alternator is the problem.

 

Get batteries tested individually at a shop along with the alternator. Good idea to replace all 3 at the same time as it will make your ficm happier (especially if batteries are older than 2 or 3 years).

1) get the wire upgrade kit from DC
2) TELL THEM not to forget the spacers
3) also get them to send you another 75" 1/0 red charge cable with 3/8 lugs at each end. To go from battery to battery.

You will like the 270XP... Charges 1.5 volts higher than my OEM did.

 

Are the spacers required for the 250xp as well. Stan told be it was a direct bolt on so this is all new to me. I have to call and see where my alt. is in the am anyway. So if I need them I will ask at that time.

Sarge

 

Spacers were necessary with mine. If you don't want to use spacers, you can always get a slightly smaller belt.

 

I'm not seeing this wire upgrade kit anywhere on their website, but I did find the battery cable I think. Is this it? https://www.dcpowerinc.com/universal...cable-kit.html