Anyone else have problems with these things? The stocker lasted 150K, in the last 65K I've put 4 of these things on, all new Ford alternators.. Wiring is fine, batteries are fine, they are old Optima's, but still hold a charge and take a charge just fine, amp load on the alternator is around 10 amps. So it's not the batteries causing it to work hard. Alternator puts out 5 amps, just like the rest of them did, no more, no less.. It's the voltage regulator... Ford doesnt want to give me another one, said before they would I'd have to let them look at the truck, and pay to have them install the new one.. I'm a mechanic, if I cant diagnois problems like this, I will sell my tools, sell my car and get a desk job. I'm not paying a parts changer to look at my truck. They did the same crap after I went through 3 power steering pumps back to back, even lost brakes with one of them 20 miles after installing one. Finally went to Napa to get a pump, and haven't had a lick of trouble in 60K miles

Hell I just got done rebuilding the alternator in the car, damn thing was a yr old and only seen the track. GM 1 wire for a Ford, burned up the rectifier, so I replaced it and the voltage regulator, now I have 14.1 volts, most I had seen before that was 13.2.. Then the next trip out to the track the one in the truck quits, 35 miles from home, night time, raining like a mo-fo, batt voltage was 10.9, I finally had to pull over, put the generator in the back of the truck and hook it up to the all time power wire to the trailer so I could get home.. Damn torque convertor wouldnt even lock up, it would just slip, truck hardly running loping like it had a monster cam in it....

I'm real tempted to just rebuild this one myself too and say screw Ford. I found a bunch of places that offer replacement parts, even upgrade kits that will bump the output to 230 amps I'm still wondering if I should keep a spare alternator in the truck.. I've never had a lick of trouble out of this truck, the things that have gone out are your typical parts, when I replace the crap I have nothing but pure hell with it. I dont buy reman crap, you'd think that with new parts it is the same stuff they would put on a new truck, yet they are junk. WTF?

 

I buy all of my alternator, starter, and clutch stuff from a local rebuilder. He doesn't mind selling just the parts and the quality is the best that he can find. I would try and find a local source for good components. You can also check out: http://rjminjectiontech.com/?p=7 They are supposed to sell high quality parts for the Ford alternator...I've never bought from them but have read good things. HTH.

 

im having issues with my charging system also. alt went out like 2 weeks ago. bought a new alt from napa. has been fine since until today when the woman drove my truck and called said the battery light is on. she went to an checker auto and they said both batterys are bad. the passanger side is bad and drivers side is almost there. so i had her get a battery, then she says battery light is still on. so i meet her,start to look at it and alt is only putting out 11.8 volts. with idle up or down. wtf? alt. has maybe 200miles on it. the old alt had a bad voltage regulator,now seems like this one does also.
where can i look to get parts for the alternators? i have rebuilt them long time ago but cant find anyone that has parts.

my big complaint is how can they tell (checker auto) which battery is bad when they are both tied together? RETARDS.so tomorrow i will be gong to that checker auto and complaining and getting my money back,i had my woman keep the old battery,i have a good feeling its still good.

 

HA, get this shit... I decided I'd go ahead and just rebuild the alt that was on it.. Got a regulator, and a rectifier.. I even put new bearings in it, the rear bearing seal was screwed up, glad I caught that, it was starting to push grease out ( a new flippin alternator, well a yr old, but hardly any run time )... Put it on the truck, 15 amps, thats it, no more, no less, just dead 15 amps. This flipping regulator is no good either!! I checked this thing over, this isnt the first alternator I've rebuilt, this is the first one that didnt work after I rebuilt it. But hey, it's 5 more than I had before LMAO.. So I say screw it, I get a alternator from Car Quest, we deal with them quite often and they give us good prices. This alt didnt look like a reman to me, the case looked brand new, the stator was bare steel, looked brand new, dont know if it is or not, dont care.. Slap it on the truck, at first it's charging 75 amps due to the intake heater being on ( retarded, it's 100 degree's outside, it doesnt need the heater ). After 5 mins it's down to 10 amps, I crank the radio up, pulling 35, I turn the A/C on and the blower on full blast, 65 amps, hit the electric fans on the transmission cooler, 100 amps ( at idle, I was impressed to say the least )... I turn everything off, let the truck idle while I monitor the amp draw for a bit.. It got down to around 7 amps, batts took the charge very well.. They were charged up anyways, been sitting on the trickle charger for a week...

I walk out tonight to go to the track, fire the truck up, 14.1 volts.. I thinking "awesome".. I get 10 miles from home, the truck starts running funny again, real rough, transmission converter slipping like a bitch. I pull up the batt voltage on the Edge, 10.9 I said fuck it, I keep driving to the track.. I calmed down once I opened the door and smelled the race fuel, opened up the trailer door, I was good to go... Pull the car out, running rough as hell, lift the hood and #1 and 2 plug wires are throwing 1 inch long sparks, out of the top of the boots Made a pass, 12.1, ran like shit... At the end of the night I decided to run it again before I put it away for 2 more weeks, 12.4... Guess I know why it hasn't ran a mid 11 for 2 months now HAHAHA

All my shit is broke right now... My Dodge, that sum bitch eats track bars for lunch, it's got one out right now, 7K miles, which is typical, I replace 1 every yr, thats the only issue I've ever had with this truck. Cant drive the truck unless you want the shit scared out of ya.. If it wasn't for that I would have just pulled the trailer with it. I'm about done with that shit, I'm going to buy some HUGE rod ends and make my own, screw it... The '00 F-250, alternator.... '07 F-450, has a service bed so you cant hook a gooseneck to it, plus that it has blown head gaskets, it cant be down right now because this is my busy time of the yr, I have to have the truck.. Does fine as long as ya drive it nice and easy... And the Mustang is messed up ( only plug wires, but still lol )...... So out of all the crap I own, the only truck you can drive has blown head gaskets, beautiful! I never have problems with my trucks, I typically walk out in the morning trying to decide which one to drive today, now I'm trying to guess which one will leave me on the side of the road today HAHAHAHA

Wallace, Thanks for the link. I'll check them out... I found a place that sells heavy duty kits for them, as well as upgrades ( upgrades the alt to a 240 amp, I'd be happy to get 30 amps right now ).. I'll check that link out........ If I can find the site with the upgrade parts I'll post a link for ya Fastforward

 

Editing because of conflicting info...

Some sites say the 99 PSD's and up have large case alternators, others do not.. I confirmed that from the factory all 7.3 and 6.0's use a small case 6G alternator.. The large case alternators are supposed to be more reliable, and have more output at low speeds. The rectifiers are also supposed to handle more output current than the small case. From what I've seen so far, the old alternator I rebuilt, the regulator was bad at first, and the "new" one is also bad. The reman I got has no output at all, so that appears to be the rectifier.. The only issue I see with "upgrading" to a large case alternator is you cant get them from Ford or auto part stores because they aren't OEM.. I haven't found what vehicles used them yet... Other than that they bolt right on..

I'm going to return the reman alternator Monday, I'll run it for a bit but I think what I'm going to do is "upgrade" to a large case alternator ( 200 amp or higher ), and use the reman as a spare. After all of this I just dont trust them anymore.. I'm going to redo the output wire, although there is nothing wrong with mine, I'm going to increase the size.. I hardly use the truck anymore, same with the Dodge, but when I tow out of town 95% of the time I take this truck. Can you imagine what the towing bill would be for towing a pickup and a 35ft enclosed trailer 100 miles or more? I wont leave town without a spare after all of this..

 

Had the reman tested today, it was fried.. When I took it off the truck last night, it rattled like a spray paint can.. I got it replaced under warranty, tried it out tonight and drove the truck around a bit. I haven't seen voltages like this in a very long time, it held 14.1. Even my F-450 doesnt do that ( 13.2, and they use the same alternator ).. Maybe this one will hold out for a bit, if not I'll get another one replaced under warranty.. It's nice being able to crank up the stereo and not have to turn it all the way down at low engine speeds ( been doing that for over a yr )...

As for what I'm going to do about getting a alternator I can trust, I still haven't decided.. I want to go with a large case, but I'm trying to find just a case. I've found complete alternators, they run around 230 bucks for a 140 amp.. With a case I'll build the heaviest duty alternator I can, there are some really HD ones out there, but at the tune of 400 bucks on up.. Building one myself I'll only have half that in one. I also found some custom alternators that have a totally different design, they aren't cheap either though..

All of that is on hold right now though. I'm gathering parts to put a cage in the Mustang and get the rest of the parts for my front suspension, going to try and make a trip to a NHRA track next month, the car isnt legal to run there.. 4 hr trip 1 way, using the F-250 to tow the car there, 1 way or another I'll have a spare alt to use by then..

 

the international i drive uses a large case alternater,( 140 amp leece neville) on a cummins isx, the bolt pattern is the same as the one on my 95 psd i assume all ambulnce emergency type trucks will as well, and the school busses must use the big case as well, with all the big heater fans lights etc..

 

From what I gathered, emergency vehicles dont come standard with the large case alt's.. Dont know if thats true or not, I just remember reading that when a vehicle went into a shop to be built ( who ever builds ambulances and such ), bolt a large case alt on.. You'd think in a situation like that, buying that many vehicles that they could special order the large case...... From what I gathered was that not all use dual alternators.

So far I haven't had any trouble with the reman I put on. I haven't hardly drove the truck though, maybe 300 miles since then. I've been using the Dodge if I need to pull anything, which sucks cuz this is the time of the yr I haul hay, kinda hard on a 'ol half ton pulling 14 1500LBS roundbales a trip for a few weekends, but it aint the first time.. I'm taking the car to a track next month with the 7.3, 600 mile round trip, then I've got to look into getting the transmission rebuilt.. I still intend to either beef up the small case I have, or buy a large case, upgrade it to around 250 amps...

 

my 7.3 is on its 4th @ 135,000 mi. fortunately the first replacement I bought was the best one- ie most expensive one I could find from Napa - $220.00 -and they have had to replace it 3 times now under warranty. I've been fortunate on the timing of when/where they would go out ( in town) I told the Napa people I would pay more for an alternator that would last more than 25,000 mi. but apparently they don't have one available.

I am curious if anyone on here has found something better ?

 

Check all connections and wires for gunk, a crudy wire could be causing the alt to charge but not getting to the batteries. check the grounds under the waterpump as well. sometimes the wire under the molded connecter turns green and you wont see it till you cut it open. ive lost batteries and alts due to bad wiring.

 

If you have a local shop that does rebuilds you can try there. I use a local place and they have good parts instead of the junk shit alot of rebuilders are using.

 

hey colt!
have you figures anything out? i had another alt go out again. wtf? batteries are ok and wiring also. even added extra grounds to different places just in case. this is the 3rd fom napa. last one lasted about 7-8k miles. i still have the original old one that the voltage reg went bad, really would like to rebuild

 

hey colt just a thought here but in the back of the case on them there are like 3-6 blots that are there to hold down the VR and they backoff on stock ford alternators, just crank them down and see if it fixs it, thats all thet was up with mine and it is a isue ford has yet to fix, iv seen it on mine and the guy i use to do all my rebuilds on starters and alt's said it is super common

 

I haven't done anything with mine yet, it's been parked here lately. Needs some work, but it's pretty far back on the list. My 7.3 needs a transmission pretty bad, injectors are almost wore out, and a few other odd's and in's. Just dumped about 4K into my Dodge, and my F-450 is in the dealership getting head gaskets.. So I haven't had a lot of time to dick with the alternator stuff.

I'll have to remember which computer my links are on, but if you do a search for aftermarket 6G alternators you'll come across a few.. You want something totally custom, and in a large frame.. They aren't cheap, but neither is the junk we have now.. As far as reliability, I'm not sure how they are doing, I just know the small frames aren't worth a damn. I was going to rebuild one of my small frames with aftermarket parts, but if I'm going to spend that kind of money I want a 200+ amp alternator. You cant fit large enough components to handle that kind of current in the small frame. By the time I round up a large frame alt and rebuild it, I might as well just buy one of the aftermarket ones..

I'll do a bit more research here real soon and post back up what I find, hopefully I can recommend something that will work out for ya.

 

Just swapped the Alternator on my 2000 PSD.

I measured Voltage before/after.

Before:
Battery Volt: 12.8
Idle Volt Accessories OFF: 13.6
Idle Volt A/C on (which triggers the aftermarket electric fan) and Headlights on: 12.4

After:
Battery Volt: 12.8
Idle Volt Accessories OFF: 14.7
Idle Volt everything ON: 14.6

I bought a 190amp (large frame) alternator from Nations Alternators.
It is MUCH larger than the stock unit, but bolted right into place without any issues.
Install took less than 10 minutes.
http://www.nationsautoelectric.com/tad.html