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Thread: Alternator woes

  1. #21
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    Re: Alternator woes

    Awesome thread!

    I have an issue where my voltage only comes up to 13v while running. They van barely has enough juice to start. Earlier in the week it started fine but died on the hwy due to low battery.

    My battery is newish, and tested good. The alternator is 1 year old and tested good.
    Did I read somewhere that the ECU is used for Voltage regulation?????
    Maybe I'll run a wire from the sense terminal to the battery.

    Other ideas?

  2. #22
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    Re: Alternator woes

    The ECU is not part of our charge systems. 13V is higher than a fully charged battery would be on it's own, so the alternator is doing something.........just not enough. My guess is the alternator has one or more open diodes. It could also be a bad connection somewhere........possibly on the sense wire. If you have an extra alternator I'd probably throw it on there for testing. If you don't have an extra, this might be a good time to pick one up.

  3. #23
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    Re: Alternator woes

    I'm running a CS144 alternator since last february.
    I found this:

    Name:  CS144wiring01.jpg
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    "if BAT terminal does not get 12v Alternator will not make juice"

    I found a loose nut here.
    I guess when i puled it for testing earlier in the week i did not notice how loose it was. Time will tell if this is the root issue.
    I cleaned the carbon tightened it up and now have 14V!

    Question:
    Do the 2 wires circled go to the battery or do they split off to supply power some where else???

    Name:  van alternator wiring.jpg
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    When I upgraded the Alternator I ran a heavy welding cable from Alt to Battery and a Heavy Ground Strap.
    Do I need the 2 wires in question? Or are they Redundant?

    My battery terminals have become cluttered with various bypasses and accessories. I'd love to clean it up & Add a heavy fuse block.

  4. #24
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    Re: Alternator woes

    I probably would have answered the last question differently if I had known you have a CS-144 alternator (not too likely you'll get an open diode on a CS-144). Those are damn tough alternators (better than the other CS series alternators) and almost non destructible. On the CS-144, you can get a harness adapter that goes from Toyota to CS. If you don't want to spend that much $$$ on the adapter harness you can cut the wires on the van harness and wire them to one of THESE.






    Yellow "L" wire on the van harness goes to the Brn/Red "L" wire on the CS harness
    Blk/Yel "IG" wire on the van harness goes to the Brn "F" wire on the CS connector
    White "S" wire on the van harness goes to the Red "S" wire on the CS connector

    Don't worry about the Wht "P" wire on the CS connector. It's my understanding that wire is used to signal tachometers on diesel engines and is not used on gasoline engines.

    From what I understand the CS alternator can also be made to operate with a single wire (see pics below). This is known as the "one wire GM mod". Other than the big output wire, you simply take the Black/Yel "IG" wire from the van harness and hook it to the CS-144 "L" terminal. This should excite the field on the CS and it should put out ~ 14.5V.



    If you look closely at the female plug on the CS-144 alternator you will see letter designations for terminal positions.



    This picture shows this position on the CS-144 connector. Put the black/yellow "IG" wire from the van harness here.



    For more information on this conversion CLICK HERE

  5. #25
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    Re: Alternator woes

    Quote Originally Posted by timsrv View Post
    Being careful not to touch your tools on any other metal surfaces remove the 10mm nut from the stud. Now remove the eye terminals from the post & touch them together. If they spark or arc, then you have a shorted diode and the diode assembly will need to be replaced. Protect these wires from touching any metal surfaces & before going any further disconnect the battery! Removing the alternator with the battery still connected can be very exciting .
    Does the van have to be running when you open the + box and touch the two eye terminals together or not?

  6. #26
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    Re: Alternator woes

    Quote Originally Posted by Harv's Go Go Van View Post
    Does the van have to be running when you open the + box and touch the two eye terminals together or not?
    No, the van should be off. If the diodes in the alternator are good, they will not allow current to pass, so no spark. If you have a shorted diode, the alternator will draw power (about 5 amps or so) this load will cause a spark or an arc when you make/break the connection.

  7. #27
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    Re: Alternator woes

    Thanks for all the helpful info Tim. I was able to remove the alternator and replace the brushes in less than an hour thanks to this thread.

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    Re: Alternator woes


  9. 08-29-2016, 04:16 PM


  10. #29
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    Re: Alternator woes

    Hi everyone. I'm having the same issue trying to get a new alternator to fit into the bracket. I read the thread and checked out the bracket, but could not get it to budge. In the picture there seems to be a space between the bushing lip and the bracket, where as mine is pushed in so it doesn't seem to have a space. Would it go in further? How could I try to push it in? I only need a mm more clearance or so... Thank you. Hannah

    this was the old alternator Name:  image.jpg
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    Last edited by Wonderwagoneina; 11-08-2016 at 04:56 PM.

  11. #30
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    Re: Alternator woes

    I had the same issue, and used a grinder to get the clearance needed. Hope someone else can shed light on this.

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    Re: Alternator woes

    Thanks for the reply! That's what I was thinking. which did you grind?

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    Re: Alternator woes

    The alternator, carefully. Thanks to Tim's instructions , I then replaced the brushes and voltage regulator in the older unit, which was a reman that had only about 15k miles, and re installed, keeping the other for a spare.

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    Re: Alternator woes

    I was able to successfully file the alternator enough to get it in but now the stock harness doesn't fit (too big) and the harness I bought doesn't fit either (too small). Does anyone know of a harness that will fit a 14682 model quality built alternator? Or send me in the direction of an alternator that will fit the stock harness?

  15. #34
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    Re: Alternator woes

    The stock harness should fit that alternator. Did the retailer sell you the wrong one?

  16. #35
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    Re: Alternator woes

    The stock van alternator harness has 2 similar (but different) round plugs on it. Make sure you're trying to plug the correct one into the alternator. Tim

    PS: We are talking about a Denso alternator here.............right?

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    Re: Alternator woes

    its actually a quality built. we used the old plug in the new alternator and are back on the road. thanks guys.

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    Re: Alternator woes

    I got my brushes off and one of them is sitting lower than the other they are not slopped away like the picture of the "brushes on atf" picture.
    **update** i had my alternator tested at two different places and it passed at both, i am still curious about the different sizes of the brushes??
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    Last edited by Dirtlivingston; 02-27-2017 at 02:51 PM.

  19. #38
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    Re: Alternator woes

    Those brushes are worn, but IMO probably not worn enough to cause an output issue......yet. If that alternator wasn't working then I'd look very closely at the diodes. Look for signs of overheating and check the stems to be sure all the solder joints are still intact....................or maybe it's the harness??? Tim

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    Re: Alternator woes

    At this point im going to put it back together and mess with my battery. Im hoping its not the alternator harness i asked at a toyota dealership today and they told me they dont sell individual pieces id have to get an entire harness for $2000 which kinda blew my mind since i had a part number?? Another intresting thing i noticed was after i loosened the 14mm bolt holding the alternator bracket i had coolant leaking, after i tightened it back up no more leak, is this correct? Also is there any chance this could be the belt??

  21. #40
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    Re: Alternator woes

    If you're talking about the bolt that holds the adjustment bracket to the engine block, there's really no good reason to loosen that bolt........and I would actually try to avoid messing with it. Aside from being the mount bolt for the alternator adjustment bracket, it's also a mount bolt for the water pump and the timing housing. It's a long bolt that goes through a hole in the water pump, then through the timing housing, then finally threads into a "blind" hole in the cast iron engine block. Being a "blind" hole means it does not enter into the water jacket of the block, but it is used to compress the gasket between the block and the timing housing and then the gasket between the timing cover and the water pump. Engine coolant passes through 2 ports in the block, then through the timing housing en-route to the water pump. That bolt helps keep the gaskets compressed so coolant doesn't leak down into the sump. To see how it all goes together CLICK HERE and scroll about 3/4 down the page. That bolt threads into the lower right hole of the bigger port (see picture of engine block, lower red arrow indicates the port I'm referring to).

    There still should have been enough gasket compression with the remaining bolts to prevent a coolant leak, so if it leaked I would be a little concerned even if the external leak stopped after tightening (could still be leaking internally). Keep an eye on your coolant level and check for coolant spots under the van for the next few days. You should also check the oil to be sure it isn't getting coolant in it (coolant in oil makes the oil look like a chocolate milk shake). If the gasket area stays dry, coolant level stays up, and your oil stays transluscent, then I guess you lucked out. Replacing those gaskets without removing the engine is doable, but the one between the block and the timing cover is a PITA as a lot of stuff needs to come off to replace it. Tim

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