Why does the listing say "Direct Replacement"?

Why, out of five photos shown for the alternator, not one photo is angled so as to show whether or not it has the genuine Prestolite Leece-Neville label?

Why isn't Kalbro, the actual company doing business online as "PrestoliteSuperStore", listed as an authorized Prestolite distributor on the real Prestolite Electric, Inc dealer directory, neither in Connecticut, nor New York, the two states that Kalbro claims to have locations in?




New York and several other east coast states were checked, but the dealer lists were too long to post. Kalbro wasn't on any state list checked. Nor was any company called "PrestoliteSuperStore".

If anyone wants to verify whether or not "PrestoliteSuperStore" is actually a Prestolite Electric, Inc. "outlet", try contacting Jonathan E. Smith, who is the Regional Sales Manager of the Northeast Territory, and who wears two hats at (the real) Prestolite, as he is also the Assistant Director of Aftermarket Sales & Marketing for Prestolite Electric and Leece Neville Heavy Duty Systems.

There is a lot of hocus pocus in the alternator business, and it isn't as simple as what is made here versus what is made over in China. Prestolite and Leece-Neville were both American companies bred on US soil, but are both now owned by a Chinese based conglomerate... just like WAI, which owns Transpo, which basically owns the majority of the aftermarket alternator production and distribution capacity. It just so happens that the Leece-Neville division still has a production plant in New York, where it still makes some alternators, including this one.

But the corporate owner of the design also owns a large swath of production capacity in China, so it stands to reason that there are a lot of "Direct Replacement" units out there, just as the Prestolite rep warned @F0rdc0wb0y over the phone, and just as I warned him in a post prior to that. Buyer Beware. When in doubt, search it out, and contact the manufacturer, or do as FordCowboy did and use the authorized dealer directory provided by the manufacturer.

I'm not saying that Kalbro isn't an authorized Prestolite distributor. I'm saying that Prestolite is not saying that Kalbro is, while at the same time identifying many other businesses that actually are authorized distributors. Anyone interested might want to look into it further, because the prices are good. The question is, are they too good to be genuine?

 

Questions and information removed. I may have overstepped my good intentions to help the FTE find the Leece Neville alternator they seek in short order. My apologies to anyone that may have been offended or put off by me posting information available by searching Google for Prestolite.

Well done gentlemen and thank you again!

 

Because then they would have to field hundreds of thousands of calls from every person who wanted to buy an alternator,

"will it fit my engine?"
"will I need a new belt?"
"where do I get a pulley?"
"can I reuse my own pulley?"
"do you have an alternator for a Duramax?"
"what is the torque spec on the mounting bolts"
"what is the horsepower demand of the alternator?"
"do they need to be torqued higher due to larger load?"
"do you rent the pass through pulley installation wrench?"
"where can I find the pass thru wrench to install the pulley?"
"I have a top water fuel heater kit, will the alternator still fit?"

All. Flippin. Day.

Manufacturers don't have time for that. They have to build product.

Distributors don't have time for that flit either. They have to distribute product.

But some distributors operate efficiently enough to also be retailers. Like FleetPride.

But they are dumb retailers, in that they are unable to answer any of the example questions italicized above.

So enter the specialty retailer, like the local alternator rebuilding shop that specializes in heavy duty trucks.

Or boutique online retailers, like FTE sponsor @JeremyXDP @XtremeDiesel .

Manufacturers do not sell to directly to the public, because they are not set up to service or address the constant needs of the public.

While I suggested the name of the precise person at Prestolite Electric, Inc. who was in the best position to know what the real deal is with "The Prestolite Super Store", I stopped short of posting his phone number or email, to give him an extra layer of insulation from folks who do not first do a search to try and get as many answers that are already available to find. The name alone is enough for astute gogetters to get his contact information. It's not hard at all, but amazingly, many people won't take that step. But astute go getters will have no problem, and they are the types of folks who will ask good questions.

The kind of folks who ask what viscosity of oil should they use in their engine, when it is published in the owner's manual, posted in their Ford Pass App, and now, printed directly on the oil fill cap (which Ford has taken to doing in later models, for people who can't manage to crack open a book), are the kinds of folks who would burden the phones (that appears to be his mobile #, btw) with basic questions that manufacturers do not have time for in the course of keeping their product supplied to the market. The effort of having to enter a name and a company into a search window helps filter out those kinds of folks, so that the manufacturer's reps don't take down their contact info altogether, making it so even the go getters can't contact them as easily.

On the other hand, FTE members represent some pretty extreme examples of astute go getting, and ask some darn good questions. @jstihl asked several questions about dual alternators, and I'll try and answer those from the perspective of my personal experience within the hour.

 

@jstihl @F0rdc0wb0y

Yes, I have dual alternators as well, as originally equipped, and yet I installed the Leece Neville AVi160 when my original alternators failed (after 15 years in service). I did not delete the second alternator.

I DID upgrade the B+ and ground cables for the Leece Neville alternator, per the strong recommendations of Leece Neville, and per the requirements of Ford and International when this alternator is installed in the Low Cab Foward chassis cab.

The cable upgrade was in addition to, not in replace of, the original stock wiring.

Since I had already upgraded batteries to AGM batteries back in 2009 (and those batteries lasted 10 years), I did not have any corrosion wicking or battery terminal degradation on my OEM battery cables, so there was no need to replace any original cabling.

However, the current carrying capacity of the original cabling was inadequate to support the current producing capacity of the Leece Neville alternator, so additional cables were added to distribute the load, reducing resistance. A couple of ancillary benefits of multiple cables in parallel, instead of a single thick azz cable replacement, are heat dispersion and redundancy in the unlikely event that one cable ever becomes compromised be corrosion, which might increase resistance. The additional cabling offers an alternate path, which reduces the impact of any one cable's degradation.

The additional cables installed with the Leece Neville alternator were as follows:

- 1 additional dedicated positive lead from B+ terminal of alternator directly to positive terminal of driver's side battery.
- 1 additional dedicated positive lead from B+ terminal of alternator directly to positive terminal of passenger side battery.
- 1 additional dedicated positive paralleling lead from the positive terminal of the driver's side battery to the positive terminal of the passenger side battery
- 1 additional ground cable from the alternator's rear ground terminal directly to the engine block
- 1 additional ground cable from the alternator's rear ground terminal directly to the driver's side battery negative terminal.

While the alternator does ground to the block by way of the mounting bolts through the case, the case is actually bolted to an alternator bracket, which is bolted to the front cover, which is bolted to the block. The gap between the front cover and the block is sealed with sealant. While the cover bolts still provide continuity, the external copper cable added from alternator to block provides a direct unimpeded low resistance path, and leverages the provision that Leece Neville built into the alternator to do just that.

Visual aides to follow:












































Routing path of secondary paralleling cable between passenger side and driver's side batteries. This cable is triple wrapped for protection against shorting in minor frontal collisions. Not only is there split convoluted tubing underneath all the red wrapping of tape, there is also a hard plastic spiral wound wrapping spacer underneath that surrounds the cable for the extent of its length. This spiral wrap spacer provides a net 1/8" (1/16th x 2) of additional stand-off space between the wire insulation jacket and the split convoluted wrap, which helps insulate and distribute any crushing or pinching forces from the any parts surrounding the cable that might crumple in a collision. That is the hope, anyway.




As an aside, aluminum corrodes.

Here is a photo of aluminum corrosion growing on my original alternator.







These photos of aluminum corrosion help illustrate the value of the black E-coat (electro deposition coating) that Leece Neviile applies to the cases of their AVi160 alternator.

 

I have edited my comment above in post #47 in order to reflect a more company/representative friendly way of addressing the availability of the Leece Neville alternator.

Truth be told, 3 years ago when I bought my QuickStart alternator I wanted a Leece Neville. But, I thought the price of the alternator was $1000 from the link Y2KW57 posted that goes to Ford. This is the same link he has posted in the past. Admittedly, I stopped my search there because I could not afford that price and had sticker shock.

I moved on to QuickStart based on the experience of Brian42 and have been happy with my purchase. If/when the QuickStart fails, I now have the knowledge and information to acquire a Leece Neville somewhat locally.

That is thanks to F0rdc0wb0y and Y2KW57 and this thread.

 

The truck with duals is the 2001. The truck in this thread is my 2000 which only has a single alt. When times comes on the 2001 its getting a leece!

 

@Sous

I have since had an opportunity to verify with confidence and certainty that the online outlet linked in the quote above is supplied by a legitimately Authorized Distributor of Prestolite Leece Neville.

It is my practice to obtain 3 independent sources of verification to triangulate the truth, and the elements learned from each separate source must all corroborate. That has happened in this case.

After the results of my inquiry put to complete rest my earlier misgivings, I would have no qualms about ordering a Prestolite Leece Neville alternator from this this online retail outlet . Current pricing is shown as $338.32.

While I was at it, I also verified that FTE Sponsor @XtremeDiesel XDP's offering, currently offered at $369.95, (but out of stock) is also a genuine Prestolite Leece Neville alternator sourced from an Authorized Distributor.

Compared to the purposely inflated (in part to provide margin for independent shops) Ford and International dealership retail prices, it appears that www.PrestoliteSuperStore.com pricing is far more reasonable than the OEM dealerships, for the same quality product.

 

No sir, I did not have a chance to verify the authenticity of the PrestoliteSuperStore that I linked above, but I appreciate you going the extra mile in order to do that for the FTE community. As I mentioned above, I have a properly functioning QuickStart alternator, but if it ever dies I will purchase a Leece Neville. Either from the PrestoliteSuperStore link or from a local authorized retailer if one close enough has it in stock.

I wanted a Leece Neville 3 years ago after seeing yours, but at the time the only verifiable link I could find was the one from Ford and I was not going to pay $1000 for an alternator. I am happy with the QuickStart and have no regrets, but it was playing second fiddle when I bought it, but it does a good job.

Thanks again for verifying the source for us, the FTE appreciates your efforts and dedication to providing genuine information.

 

Y2kw57 not sure how I missed your write up on the alternator upgrades and install but thank you for all the great information. Your attention to detail is second to none! Will look forward to this install when the time comes, thanks again

 

I installed the Leece Neville today. What a beast! Install was straight forward. Had to do some grinding on the alternator bracket. Also had to drill out the stock charging wire eyelet one size bigger to fit the lug on the leece. Very easy. It charges at 14.0v-14.2v. Never got above 14.4v. Zero voltage fluctuation with throttle input. FYI running a stock size pulley. I installed the fuse block just as Y2KW57 did. Also, this alternator doesn't get near as hot as the oem. Even after a drive. The OEM would almost send ya to the hospital it was so hot.

At idle I can kick on 85 amps worth of auxiliary accessories and the leece never goes below 13.9v-14.1v. Absolutely incredible!! I feel like I could power a small village with this thing lol!


Difference in size....





Black sharpie marks show where I had to grind. Last pic is final product...








You can see where I ziptied a piece of hose around the intercooler tube. I did this as a precaution against the fuse block.

 

Man that looks great in there. One of those would go nicely with my satin black IC tubes...

The back of the case must be non-conductive?

Thanks for posting pictures, I was hoping you would.

 

Thank you! yes, The back of the case has a plastic shield over it for that very reason.

 

You didn't miss it. I never posted a Leece Neville install write up on the 7.3L forum. Most of my posts about this particular alternator are on the 6.0L forum, because the 6.0L has a Fuel Injection Control Module (FICM) that is very sensitive to the under voltage, so those guys need a big alternator. You can go to the 6.0L forum now and see much more material about this alternator, including posts that I have made during the last week, on topics that don't always pertain to the 7.3L forum, for a reason that will be explained below.

However, in the specific case of @F0rdc0wb0y , because he runs communication radios (his ferrite chokes immediately caught my eye), I went ahead and posted more about this alternator, because he appears to have standing loads that most do not have, and those loads help mitigate against a concern that I will talk about below (this is starting to sound like a write up one might read from a Motley Fool investment advice click bait).

Because you go through such painstaking effort to eliminate alternator electrical noise, I'd like to suggest reading my most recent post on the 6.0L forum on the Isolated Ground Thermal Membrane that Prestolite Leece Neville includes with most AVi160 alternators, EXCEPT for the Ford applications. There might be an opportunity to retrofit the second half of the dual part thermal membrane behind the negative side of the bridge rectifier plate, which might isolate the case from the rectified output, and thus the ground cables you bolt to the back of the alternator would shunt any stray AC noise generated by the diodes directly to the negative terminal battery. You might check that post out. Ground Isolation Thermal Membrane

Ok, now for the reason I don't talk a lot about the Leece Neville alternator on the 7.3L forum.

Our ZD-11 glow plugs.

They are only rated for 11 volts. They only see 10 volts at start up, and creep up to 12 volts by the time the anemic 50 amp producing at idle stock alternator that is desperately trying to catch it's breath to recharge the batteries that were just depleted from starting the truck and powering the glow plugs.

While rated at 110 amps, the stock alternator only produces 110 amps at 6,000 RPM, which with an approximate 2.49 to 1 pulley ratio for the upper alternator, works out to about 2,400 engine rpm, which is basically barrelling down the road full tilt, not at idle. So at idle, the current demand of the charging batteries seeking replenishment, combined with simultaneously continuing to power the glow plugs after the engine is started for a couple of minutes (depending on oil temperature) to mitigate cold start emissions, means that the glow plugs still never see more than 11.5 or 12 volts with an OEM alternator.

@jstihl has TWO alternators, but the second alternator is commanded off by the PCM (even though it is still an I-Line alternator not otherwise controlled by the PCM) for as long as the glow plugs are turned on. So with Ford's dual alternator scheme, the addition of the second alternator does not present a risk to the glow plugs, because it is commanded off while the glow plugs are commanded on.

However, once we add a big bad black Leece Neville alternator to the top position, there is no way to "throttle back" this alternator from reaching the full 14.2v (+/- 0.2v) voltage regulator limit pretty much immediately after start, just as F0rdc0wb0y reports. This is bad for our 11v rated glow plugs. The ZD-12 and ZD-13 glow plugs are rated at a higher voltage, and are considered by Beru, the manufacturer of all of our glow plugs, to be "3 stage glow plugs", being more tolerant of being powered while the alternator is supplying more voltage than the batteries can by themselves with the engine off prior to start.

So that is one reason why I talk more about the Leece Neville alternator in the 6.0L forum than in the 7.3L forum. It isn't that I don't recommend the Leece Neville... after all, I put one on my truck. It's just that the increased electrical generation capacity that is available immediately after start up comes at the cost of over powering the glow plugs. I didn't make warning of that earlier in this thread, because F0rdc0wb0y was already long down the road of getting a higher amp alternator, and reached a dead end with the Quick Start he had. I knew the Leece Neville would work, since I've had 4 or 5 years proof in my own 7.3L truck, but now is the time to deliver the bad news: Your glow plugs could fry prematurely.

This can be mitigated in any one of a number of different ways:

1. Ask your tuner to command glow plugs end their cycle once the engine is running.

2. Have additional loads ON during the first two minutes after engine start... the blower fan on HIGH, the headlights ON, the radio ON, or in this case, the communications devices.

3. Add additional batteries (house batteries, if you will) that will add to the charging loads of the alternator.

4. Preemptively change glow plugs every 75,000 miles.

5. As F0rdc0wb0y describes in the post to follow, add a ground interrupt switch to the glow plug relay (for those who don't have a GPCM with status feedback to the PCM)

Not all of the foregoing mitigation measures need be taken, just pick one or two that are easy to do. Having an alternator that actually generates decent electrical power at idle (hence the name "IdlePRO") is worth it!

Anyone with a GPCM may experience a voltage oscillation while the glow plugs are commanded on, because the GPCM is equipped to protect the glow plugs from over-voltage, so there is a bit of back and forth that one can hear and measure voltage wise for the period of time that the glow plugs are on after the engine is started.

 

I can control my glow plugs via a switch in the cab. A simple ground interrupt off the GPR. I did this for the very reasons that Y2KW57 mentioned above. I typically do not activate the glow plugs unless it's really cold (25* or below). I don't really need glow plugs for texas "cold".

I also have a GPR LED light inside the cab too.

BTW thank you for the above post Y2KW57.

 

Well, all I can say is really think you have some nice cannon plug dust caps.

Blue