6.0 Alternator upgrade
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Laughing Gas
Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 1,159
Likes: 33
From: Utah
6.0 Alternator upgrade
FWIW, using a 140amp (Autozone DLG3668-8-11) new 6.0 Liter alternator for a 2005 truck is an easy upgrade. My battery light started flickering just above idle and got rapidly worse over 2 days so, I replaced it with the 6.0 and am seeing a steady 14.4volts at idle. A light grinding of the ALT bracket is all that is needed. The terminals are clocked 90* towards the DR side, but this allows for the charge cable and connector to fit better IMO and not standing straight up. I left the 6.0 pulley on an had no trouble fitting the serpentine belt. No more flashing battery light and steady charging. GTG! 
Posting Guru
Joined: Mar 2014
Posts: 1,468
Likes: 5
From: Salt Lake City, utah
Should swap out the pulley to the smaller one that was on your old alternator just to increase the output at idle. If you still have it there are people in the 6.0 forum always looking for the smaller pulley.
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Laughing Gas
Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 1,159
Likes: 33
From: Utah
That's a charging idle, nothing wrong there. You have to factor the old Alt. has not been working very well for a few days. The batteries are a few month's old and all the cables are good. It is good practice to check the block grounds as those get dirty and can be an issue.
No pics of what I ground. You'll see it easily. It's only about 1/8" to 1/4" removal of thin Aluminum. I used a 4 1/2" grinder with a flap wheel.
I thought about swapping the pulley, but that could result in overdriving and w/o doing all the math to know, I left it alone. The Alt is capable of 140 so it's an upgrade regardless if truck has a use for that or not.
My .02
No pics of what I ground. You'll see it easily. It's only about 1/8" to 1/4" removal of thin Aluminum. I used a 4 1/2" grinder with a flap wheel.
I thought about swapping the pulley, but that could result in overdriving and w/o doing all the math to know, I left it alone. The Alt is capable of 140 so it's an upgrade regardless if truck has a use for that or not.
My .02
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Post Fiend
Joined: Mar 2007
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From: Texas
I actually killed both batteries trying to run my air compressor with the truck off a few months ago. Had to get a jump to get it started. Drove it home and never put the batteries on a charger. I just let the alternator build it back up (of course I do a bit of driving so it had plenty of opportunity). Still going strong.
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Logistics Pro
Joined: Apr 2011
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From: Earth
got the pics, thanks Stewart, sadly there was a 6.d'oh in the pick and pull but the same day its alt was gone, not sure if it would have been the upgrade one though...any ways, would a die grinder be sufficent for the grinding task?
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Laughing Gas
Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 1,159
Likes: 33
From: Utah
On Friday (March 10, 2017) the Autozone alternator died in about 10K miles. We had just hooked up the trailer and a couple miles down the road, the battery light would come on and go off when idling. Turned around, removed the alternator and swapped out at Autozone. Installed and all seems well again. I guess these New Chinese alternators are not that great as F350-6 indicated above. If this is an annual deal, I will have to consider buying a better alternator.
Lead Driver
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 9,400
Likes: 188
From: Norco,CA
On Friday (March 10, 2017) the Autozone alternator died in about 10K miles. We had just hooked up the trailer and a couple miles down the road, the battery light would come on and go off when idling. Turned around, removed the alternator and swapped out at Autozone. Installed and all seems well again. I guess these New Chinese alternators are not that great as F350-6 indicated above. If this is an annual deal, I will have to consider buying a better alternator.
Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 1,614
Likes: 22
From: Springfield, PA
As much as the Autozone parts may fail early, I've never had any problems with their warranty, at least for their batteries. I bought a pair of Duralast Gold maybe ten years ago for my '97, replaced them once under warranty, a cold winter day and wouldn't crank fast enough for a start, and I got a new set with a new warranty. I then moved those to my '99, where they failed after two years, same deal. This time they didn't have the Gold in stock, so the shop in Mass, about 6 hours from home, let me upgrade for a minor fee to the Platinum. Those failed just last winter and another free replacement. Still two years to go on warranty. So far so good, and I'm not complaining.
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Laughing Gas
Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 1,159
Likes: 33
From: Utah
Autozone did replace the alternator on the spot with no fuss so, that is good. I will be changing out the alternator charge wire as I do believe it is corrosion filled as NICMIKE experienced. His thread is below with chasing an alternator eating problem. When I replaced the battery terminals, I also noticed corrosion on the main starter wire. This makes me believe the charge wire is probably bad as well. It doesn't take much time for the alternator to heat up indicating resistance or that the batteries are not charging properly thus, the alternator must step up the amperage.
Here is the link to NICMIKE thread on this:
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...tor-eater.html
Here is the link to NICMIKE thread on this:
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...tor-eater.html
Post Fiend
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 26,966
Likes: 50
From: Texas
Glad to hear they changed the alternator without much fuss. I've had to argue with them before because the pretty new alternator had failed within a week. They said it tested ok, but the battery light was on and the meter showed voltage being low.
New Orielly alternator still functioning fine as of today. Son in law has taken up driving the old truck with the still working alternator now.
New Orielly alternator still functioning fine as of today. Son in law has taken up driving the old truck with the still working alternator now.
