150 Amp Sequoia Alternator install with Photoman Bracket (Part 3 of 3) (1 Viewer)

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Joined
Aug 2, 2014
Threads
8
Messages
190
Location
The Savannah River Valley
Link to Part 2

See previous posts for tools, removal, and earlier steps.


Phase 7: Install tensioner screw
-Lubricate the tensioner screw with ATF or another light oil. Even better, use grease.
-Thread in the screw. Access to this head is VERY tight. I started with a wrench and then went to a 13mm socket on wobble extension and routed UNDER the ABS brake line coil atop the fender. It is a slow, slow laborious process driving in the fine thread screw 5-15 degrees at a swing. It's also possible to use a series of extensions and go through the wheel well if you remove the rubber splash guard.
-You'll slowly build belt tension. 60-80 lbs is normal; err on the high end with the Photoman overdrive reduced diameter pulleys. I used my Gates cricket gauge to check progress. I got to 76 lbs and called it good



The large shiny head is the tension bolt lock bolt. The head of the tension bolt is under the pulley in this picture and accessed (with difficulty) from the side.

Phase 8: Torque bolts
-Top pivot bolt and the 7/16" bolt are 43 lb/feet
-Other bolts are 15 lb/ft.

Phase 9: Install electrical connectors
-Field connector installs using a 10mm nut. Get the cover boot back over
-I used the Photoman 3 to 4 adapter cable. Incredibly easy: the 4 port connector goes into the alternator and the existing 3 pin connector plugs into the 4" long adapter harness. I originally planned on repinning the connector but plug and play won the day here. Click click. Done.

Phase 10: Button it up.
-REINSTALL your oil filter! It will be a HUGE mess if you fail to do this. I taped the keys to the filter to ensure I did not forget this step.
-Reconnect coil wire to cap
-Reconnect the ground wire that goes fender to intake manifold
-Reinstall power steering reservoir. I went with 24 lb/feet on the bolts
-Reinstall battery box
-Install battery and clamp down
-Reconnect battery
-Reconnect overflow hose to top of radiator

Phase 11: FOD Check and QC
-Double check your oil filter is in place
-Do a through scan for tools and hardware left in the engine compartment
-Start the engine. Revel in the charge light being out and the ammeter showing a nice strong number
-Check your system voltage. Bask in your 14.1 volt glory
-Pack up the tools. Head back to the parts store with your old alternator in the box to get your core credit

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was there not already enough directions on this install? a new updated pictorial doesn’t hurt, but there’s directions supplied with the kit 🤷‍♂️

secondly, there’s a few things i’d do differently. using a socket on a long extension you can access the tensioner bolt from inside the wheelwell pretty easily. just needs the rubber flap removed. i usually zip it down with a 3/8” electric impact bc there’s so much room.

also, tensioner bolts do better with grease, not oil. i prefer ceramlub because after it dries it leaves a ceramic boundary layer that still works after countless heat cycles.

personally i don’t think jumper harnesses are ideal and i’d recommend repinning. extra connections are extra potential failure points.

i also think a major safety/reliability oversight people don’t fix when doing this kit is fixing the main fusible link. it’s rated for only 100 amps, and people will burn them up and never understand why.

to solve this i cut open the harness and replaced the B+ wire from the alternator with 4ga wire, ran to a marine 175a breaker. that way, my battery charging/b+ circuit is reset-able and not a 10$ dealer item fuse. it’s fundamentally flawed to tell people to put a 150a alternator and not use a bigger fuse for the main charge wire.
 
In response to some of your points:
-Serious extensions were unavailable/MIA and during the Wuhan Virus cootie panic, I weighed time-vs-exposure. Time won
-Yes, I should've used grease but I had my tool oiler nearby and it did the trick. When I replace the belts during installation of the York compressor, I'll put a dab of grease on the screw
-I could repin the existing harness but this was plug-n-play and it's solidly constructed. Eventually, that entire harness will be replaced as it's feeling a bit stiff.
-The fusible links are new-ish and I have a spare in the glovebox. The breaker idea sounds good. Do you have a link or a source for the breaker? Where did you mount it?
-I went with the Sequoia alternator because the rectifier/VR had died and for $50 more, I could have a reman big-boy alternator. I already had the Photoman kit on hand. Decided to do the overdrive pulley to simplify installation and to push a few bucks to small business during this time of uncertainty.
-While the Bill/Photoman kits have instructions, I thought some folks could benefit from a more step-by-step flow and a few pictures. If you find it redundant, so be it. Using your logic, perhaps we should do a scorched earth on every "Building my new ....putting 35s on it..." post?
 
Great write up! Thank you for taking the time photograph this and post it on the board. I recently removed my alternator and replaced the brush (while doing a TON of other maintenance), but I was on the fence about going to a larger alternator. If I get in to more camping with the rig and elect to add a fridge or something, I'll probably wish I had spent the extra money. I'll be sure to reference this thread if I do indeed swap the alternator in the future.
 
Great write up! Thank you for taking the time photograph this and post it on the board. I recently removed my alternator and replaced the brush (while doing a TON of other maintenance), but I was on the fence about going to a larger alternator. If I get in to more camping with the rig and elect to add a fridge or something, I'll probably wish I had spent the extra money. I'll be sure to reference this thread if I do indeed swap the alternator in the future.

I'd have been content to just replace the brushes but that didn't solve the issues. Mine was a VR/Rectifier flaw and the bearings felt a tad gritchy. My alternator was a Toyota reman with a 2007 date code on it so the rectifier may well have "tested good" and been a 1990s original that finally said "No Mas". It was math...about 50 bucks to upgrade to the 150A unit and under $200 for the Photoman parts. It's always a work in progress...dual batteries and adding auxilliary fuseboxes and robust wiring is in the future. Wits' End is probably going to get a fair bit of my money in the future.
 
I'd have been content to just replace the brushes but that didn't solve the issues. Mine was a VR/Rectifier flaw and the bearings felt a tad gritchy. My alternator was a Toyota reman with a 2007 date code on it so the rectifier may well have "tested good" and been a 1990s original that finally said "No Mas". It was math...about 50 bucks to upgrade to the 150A unit and under $200 for the Photoman parts. It's always a work in progress...dual batteries and adding auxilliary fuseboxes and robust wiring is in the future. Wits' End is probably going to get a fair bit of my money in the future.

Thank you. I think it was an awesome write up. Every bit of visual information is helpful. I might have missed it in the previous links but where did you purchase the 150 amp Sequoia alternator? Did you buy is used?
 
Thank you. I think it was an awesome write up. Every bit of visual information is helpful. I might have missed it in the previous links but where did you purchase the 150 amp Sequoia alternator? Did you buy is used?
I bought the 150A reman unit for a 2003 Sequoia at NAPA after inspecting it at the counter. I've had good luck (and warranty support) from NAPA on electrical parts. It was about $200. A new rectifier/VR for the 80 amp alternator was about $150 and, as stated earlier, the bearings were starting to feel gritchy, so after bearings and valuing time, I was ahead going with the Sequoia alternator. However, the Photoman parts were already on hand for the eventual installation. The 150A alternator was going to happen eventually; the failure of the 80A unit simply accelerated the timeline.
 
Are the 150Amp Alternators classified as "smart" or are they more or less the same as the stock unit on the Land Cruiser? I'm guessing if they are smart modern units then my dual battery set up may need a tweak to ensure the charging of the aux battery.
 
Are the 150Amp Alternators classified as "smart" or are they more or less the same as the stock unit on the Land Cruiser? I'm guessing if they are smart modern units then my dual battery set up may need a tweak to ensure the charging of the aux battery.
As far as I know, the 2003 Sequoia 150 are just internally regulated alternators that aren't obligatorily tied into an engine management bus. The connector is a 4 pin but only three are actually used, so you can repin the old wires to the supplied 4 pin connector or use Photoman's prebuilt adapter harness. If you elect to get the reduced diameter overdrive pulley, you can use the stock belts and not have to do tai-chi and tilt/snag the belts before bolting the unit in. My truck is a 94 and OBD-1, so it's pretty dumb as far as electronics go...
 
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Are the 150Amp Alternators classified as "smart" or are they more or less the same as the stock unit on the Land Cruiser? I'm guessing if they are smart modern units then my dual battery set up may need a tweak to ensure the charging of the aux battery.
My understanding is that the unused 4th wire went to the ECU in a Sequoia and is not used in this application. That being said, in my rig, which has dual yellow top hooked together with a simple switch, I did not have any issue with just the stock alternator. I just ungraded to the 150A Sequoia unit and on my Ultragauge I see around 14.5 volts when batteries really need some charge and around 13.7 volts after that. I believe that is good for AGM batteries but time will tell.
 
I also thank you for the write-up and photos. Good work on linking forwards and backwards in the posts, as well!
 
I'm pretty dumb when it comes to electrical. What's the main purpose/benefit of upgrading the alternator to higher amperage?
Increased electrical supply for additional lighting, electronics, fridges, etc. Think about plumbing. Your pressure is pretty much fixed and we can think of the voltage (here nominally 12V) as the pressure. Now, the amperage is the size of the pipe. A 4" pipe will deliver a LOT more water than a 1" pipe. By upping the alternator's amperage, we have increased the supply to the house, but not necessarily the faucets. However, we can run a lot more faucets off the supply now. Ohm's law is another can of worms, but when you have that A ha! epiphany, you'll feel really smart.

Ohms-law-cartoon-by_unknown.jpg
 
Nice write up, would be way more useful if you consolidated into one thread though.

I might have just missed it, but did you run a new charge ("B") wire from the alt to battery? If not, that seems like a recipe for disaster. I replaced my B wire with a new 1/0 through a 200a breaker.
 
Nice write up, would be way more useful if you consolidated into one thread though.

I might have just missed it, but did you run a new charge ("B") wire from the alt to battery? If not, that seems like a recipe for disaster. I replaced my B wire with a new 1/0 through a 200a breaker.
1. There is/was a limit on uploaded photos per post. I didn't feel like dealing with photohosting services and HTML img tags, so the three are internally linked to each other as a workaround.

2. I previous upgraded all the cables to 1/0 gauge cables and military battery terminals.
 
I'm pretty dumb when it comes to electrical. What's the main purpose/benefit of upgrading the alternator to higher amperage?
One benefit is for those who have large battery storage - i.e. 200Amp hours+ of other than crank battery storage
Especially if they use much of the capacity regularly, requiring frequent hi-current recharge sessions (which also burn engine fuel).
The faster the recharge, the lesser the fuel used to generate it. And the more likely top off can happen during typical driving sessions, reducing the likelyhood of having to idle to charge. Solar helps here.
 
Increased electrical supply for additional lighting, electronics, fridges, etc. Think about plumbing. Your pressure is pretty much fixed and we can think of the voltage (here nominally 12V) as the pressure. Now, the amperage is the size of the pipe. A 4" pipe will deliver a LOT more water than a 1" pipe. By upping the alternator's amperage, we have increased the supply to the house, but not necessarily the faucets. However, we can run a lot more faucets off the supply now. Ohm's law is another can of worms, but when you have that A ha! epiphany, you'll feel really smart.

View attachment 2601862

That's a great explanation and graphic, Brandon.
 
Nice write up, would be way more useful if you consolidated into one thread though.

I might have just missed it, but did you run a new charge ("B") wire from the alt to battery? If not, that seems like a recipe for disaster. I replaced my B wire with a new 1/0 through a 200a breaker.
As I understand it, and please highlight my misunderstanding otherwise, upgrading OEM cables isn't necessarily...necessary.
Battery charge rates (primarily) but also accessory wiring are important here.
 
Nice write up Brandon.

As I understand it, and please highlight my misunderstanding otherwise, upgrading OEM cables isn't necessarily...necessary.
Battery charge rates (primarily) but also accessory wiring are important here.


In this post I discuss the sizing of the charging wire and did a crude fusible link test. Around 26 seconds the load gets up to around 150 amps and the fusible link does not start smoking until around 1:00 minute. I did not go to complete destruction because I wanted to save the fusible link, but it did make it to about 1:30. My intention was trying to put around 150 amps through the stock 80 fusible link to see what would happen.


 

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