ok i am replacing my starter about every 2 years on this truck, the first time or two was due to weak old batteries or poor wiring, both of those issues have been resolved. i have a lifetime warranty so its just the labor of putting it on. any ideas so i can keep on longer.

AND

i have discussed but finally need to change the weak alternator for a higher output alternator, what is the simplest way to do this, and which alternator do i want to use.
Oreillys said they had a 150amp alternator that would just drop right in not other changes needed, is this true>???
they said it went on 1990 ford ambulances and such.
thanks
jr

 

the alternator in my 88 was built by a local shop here i trust back in 1990 and still working perfectly it puts out 130 amps.
he also builds my starters. i am on my third one in 27 years, and i just put the third one in 2 years ago. factory starter lasted a little over 400,000 miles. second one was a free DB electric unit. that lasted for 65,000 miles. the factory starter was rebuilt by the local shop and has alittle less than 30,000 miles on it now.
i will not buy parts store parts, never had any luck with them.
i get all my electrical motors and alternators from that shop because his parts last forever.

a lifetime warranty is not worth very much when the part fails on you every 2 years.
i would rather pay a little more and have it last forever.

 

I'm on my fourth started in under a year. (Crappy oreilly remans)

But what i noticed is theres two differnt starters that fit our trucks.
7.3 has a nose cone



6.9 has no cone




Through oreilly there both under the same part number but trust me the 6.9 version is way better. The solenoid is made heavier, the wires are made heavier.

I burned up 3 7.3 starters and then i got the 6.9 one and wow.
Night and day difference. It spins over like a 2015 fresh off the lot.

Even wasted money changing two batteries that were perfectly fine. So if you go through auto parts store only buy the cone-less
I'v seen alot of companies refer to these as high torque starters. Who knows??

If your motor is v belt you can fit almost any other v belt alternator in there. Sooner or later i will cross mine to a 120amp dodge alt and external regulator. They charge alot better than most factory ford alternators. Just my .02

 

The top one is Mitsubishi the cone less is a Denso. The Denso is a better starter and they are interchangeable. Typically the vans used Denso trucks used Mitsubishi. The top bolt on the Denso is a PITA to get to on a truck but worth the effort.

 

I just want to point out...
I had a denso style unit which was always iffy. It worked, but wouldn't crank quite as fast as it should -- like the batteries were low.
Got a free Mitsubishi unit as a free core, cleaned it up, and it was /much/ faster.
Then it finally failed on me(the brushes wore out), and I swapped in a Denso-style, 2-bolt "Cummins" marked starter(got that for free too), and that one has worked great for the last 7 months.
(My mitsubishi unit is currently rebuilt and will be thrown in the next time a starter fails on me).


What I'm really saying is this: Either of these starters can work just fine. Both of these can be cheaply rebuilt and ****. If you want a starter to last, have someone reputable rebuild /any/ of these. Otherwise, it's a total crapshoot.

 

the DB unit i got was a denso. the factory is a mitsubishi.
it is all in who builds it

 

Jeez, again????... Early diesel everything used a direct drive delco, pickup, van, truck, all6.9. Late 6.9 and almost all 7.3 fords ive worked on had the Mitsubishi. Later Lighter and so on, not as prone to sucking batteries down fast like the old delco.

The Denso was never a factory option. Great aftermarket option. I love the db electrical 4.0 kw 2 bolt starter, one has 100k and 10 years , the other about a year, no issues.
YMMV

And to the OP, DO NOT get the ambulance alternator, it is a leece neville and it will fail because it is a crap parts store rebuild. And if it is the one that looks like a ford 1G, it is too much stuff in the same case, they cook themselves into failure.
One learns much while running an auto electric shop.
By a 3g from the junkyard or a reputable shop and do the conversion, works amazing.

 

I had a 1G go bad and kill 2 brand new 65 batteries. Did a junkyard 3G swap, and it charges better than the reman 1G I had (100 amp). The voltage regulator and brushes are cheaper on the 3G, and are very easy to change. That's just my personal experience.

 

When my 1g went out all the local autoparts store could get a was a 2g with a serpentine pulley. Changed it and eh it works alright. Definately interested in the 3g swap!
Will keep my eye out next time i'm at the junk yard!

 

mine was off a 95 windstar, think it was a 3.8 liter, 8.25 spacing. Had to reclock it and swap pulleys, very easy.

 

Here is the info from another site on the 3g swap. Few notes keep the bolt that threads in to the 3g alternator. When I did mine I had to increase the size of the big hole just a little bit. Mine upgrade was $35.00 At idle I am putting 13.7
Now keep in mind, this is aimed more for the "junkyard jewel" crowd since doing this with new parts would be expensive and defeat the purpose. I had the 100a large case alternator on my truck, but I think all the diesels do, so that shouldn't matter. The SMALL case 3G from a 3.8L Ford Taurus is a DIRECT bolt on. It's a small case with extended ears to fit a large case mount. These are found on early to mid 90's Ford Taurus with the 3.8L engine (maybe 3.0L too, can't remember off hand). Grab the alternator from that car, but then go find a `92-up Crown Victoria/Grand Marquis WITHOUT the police package (ie, 98% of what you're going to find in a junkyard anyway). They also use a 3g alternator, but with a completely different mounting system as these cars have a 4.6L engine that mounts the alternator in the valley of the engine. Now, unplug/unbolt the alternator harness from the alternator, then follow it back. You will find a junction block and a single round 2 wire plug. Unplug it and unbolt the hot lead from the junction block. You're done at the yard. Unplug your harness and remove the factory alternator. Swap the pulleys on the old and new alt (you MAY need to grind just a tiny bit on the 3G's support ribs on the front for ample clearance of the V-belt pulley. Mine was REALLY close, so I just touched it up a bit to make sure it had plenty of room). Now, trace your harness back and unplug everything. There will be a round 4 wire plug, a square 2 wired plug and a fusible link attached to the starter solenoid. Also unplug the external voltage regulator (you can also remove the regulator at this time as it is no longer needed). The rpm signal lead will be in the harness to and will need to be unplugged if you have a tack in your truck. Now, unwrap your original harness. You will see where the hot lead that attached to the alternator goes down and meets up with a splice junction of other wires. Cut the lead to the alternator off of the splice, it is no longer needed. Leave all the other wires attached to that splice and tape it up. The other wire that connected to the alternator is orange and goes down to the voltage regulator. It is no longer needed. At the regulator plug, remove the yellow wire(s) and the green wire. You can clip them close to the plug. Toss the regulator plug and orange wire in the trash. Now, on the new harness you got from the Crown Vic, you will notice the round plug has a green and a yellow wire. Clip them both and toss the plug. Solder the yellow(s) of the old harness to the yellow of the new harness and the green to the green. Tape them up good. You're done already. Go reinstall the harness the same way it came out (you can retape the whole harness too for neatness if you'd like). Install the Taurus alternator and plug it in. Now, at the starter solenoid, you need to reconnect the terminal you removed AND the terminal on the hot lead on the new harness. And there you go. 130 amps of raw charging power. What makes this so easy, and so different from other 3G swaps is that these trucks have a 3 wire regulator, not a 4 wire, so no need to bridge terminals like other applications. Also, the harness from the Crown Vic is the perfect length, PLUS, the wire is already gauged correctly for the amperage, AND it already has a built in fusible link rated for the higher amperage. No need for splicing in new wires and MAXI fuses like on other swaps. It's really VERY simple and should take no more than an hour to do. The 3G's are more reliable than the early alternators, and also put out more power at lower rpms and idle, which is important for our low revving diesels. Hope this helps some of you guys who were fearing a swap like this.