2H Alternator Options?

[NQCruiser]

G'Day. I've got a 12/84 model HJ60 Standard wagon with a 2H Diesel engine in it and I now have a dead alternator (rotor). After searching around the local wrecker, I've found a couple of 2H Alternators that have come off another 60 Series and a 75 Series, both running 2H diesels. Both of these have a slightly different sized housings and different mounts to my existing unit, which appears to be a 12V 55Amp model. These other (possibly later) units can come in 12V 55Amp and 12V 80Amp versions and I am wondering if the brackets/mounts can be swapped between models so that I might be able to run an 80Amp model on my block.

Has anyone done an alternator swap/upgrade on an older 2H to be able to get a bit more zap for your buck? I haven't started pulling any of my gear off yet, but I thought I'd throw a line out and see if anyone else has done this before?

I did notice that there is also a difference in the hardlines and port locations on the vaccuum pumps too, most likely because of diffferences between the 60 and the 75 mounting/routing locations, but I wouldn't think that this would be particularly hard to get around.

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated!!

 

[Tapage]

search .. has been discussed here before ..

 

[kim]

Maybe this will help you;

https://forum.ih8mud.com/diesel-tech-24-volts-systems/79172-alternator-upgrade-2h.html

 

[Jan-78FJ40]

I am surprised about the different mounts. I had an 84 HJ60 (central american 12V model) and the alternator from later years were simple bolt on. and since they are externally regulated it was plug and play.
cheers,
J

 

[NQCruiser]

I probably need to clarify a bit too - the Auto Electrician that was diagnosing my alternator said that it wouldn't fit. That could just be code for "if it doesn't just bolt on, I'm not interested".

So I'll probably take it off myself this weekend and have a look. The 55Amp one appears to have mounts at 1 o'clock and 6 o'clock, whereas the 80Amp one is 12 o'clock and 6 o'clock and is larger.

I read through a bunch of threads here and on other forums looking to see if anyone had done the same thing, but couldn't find a definitive answer. I must admit I do like the look of Tapage's idea of running a Pajero/Terracan alternator up around the 100-120Amp mark, but there's a bit of work to do when you don't have a welder or any idea what mounting options you are going to need. Plus a different pulley offset maybe required too - not stuff that I can just lay my hands on easily on a weekend over here.....

I just need to get mine out and then compare it to a few others to find a solution I think....

 

[Jan-78FJ40]

I probably need to clarify a bit too - the Auto Electrician that was diagnosing my alternator said that it wouldn't fit. That could just be code for "if it doesn't just bolt on, I'm not interested".

So I'll probably take it off myself this weekend and have a look. The 55Amp one appears to have mounts at 1 o'clock and 6 o'clock, whereas the 80Amp one is 12 o'clock and 6 o'clock and is larger.

I read through a bunch of threads here and on other forums looking to see if anyone had done the same thing, but couldn't find a definitive answer. I must admit I do like the look of Tapage's idea of running a Pajero/Terracan alternator up around the 100-120Amp mark, but there's a bit of work to do when you don't have a welder or any idea what mounting options you are going to need. Plus a different pulley offset maybe required too - not stuff that I can just lay my hands on easily on a weekend over here.....

I just need to get mine out and then compare it to a few others to find a solution I think....

Another option would be to have yours worked on. A good shop should be able to rebuild it to higher amp specs.
cheers,
Jan

 

[NQCruiser]

Jan, I was told that because the rotor was gone that this wasn't an option. I would like to stay factory/original if possible, but the comment made to me was that the low output of the current alternator may also have been the cause of the failure, as it was getting punished trying to bring the batteries up to charge all the time once they were flattened. Add to this the extra load of spotlights and a winch, I thought it would be a good opportunity to get some more zap.

That said, I am not constantly running much more electrical load on this system than standard - the winch hasn't been used in anger yet, the spotlights only at night (not often at all), the fridge (only when taking on long trips) and the only other thing is the slcfj62 Headlight loom upgrade (again, only at night).

The alternator had only just been "done up" 12 months ago after I had a diode failure, but to what extent this was done, I don't know.

I'm starting to think I need to look for another Auto-Electrician to use, rather than the current one. Fortunately, I'm in a town that has three to choose from.....

The other question is, is there such a thing as going for too big an alternator?

 

[NQCruiser]

Ok, here's where I'm at. I got another alternator from a 2H in a 75 series ute, the mounts look to be similar if not the same, the plug is only slightly different. I just pulled the little top cover off both to see if swapping the plug from one to the other was feasible. What I found underneath looks way different - the new one is at the top of the photo, the old one at the bottom. Does this appear that the newer alternator is internally regulated and the old one isn't? If so, by disconnecting my old external regulator, will this make the swap straightforward?

Any help/advice is greatly appreciated!!!

 

[bigbrowndog]

PM sent cheers

 

[Tapage]

old HJ60 alt are external regulated via V reg box in the drivers side fender ( LHD Cruisers )

 

[NQCruiser]

old HJ60 alt are external regulated via V reg box in the drivers side fender ( LHD Cruisers )

Yep, mine's the same, but I am trying to bypass this external regulator and use the alternator with the internal regulator in it's place. I've got schematicsw for the HJ75 with internal reg and for the HJ60 with external reg and I'm trying to mash them together.....

 

[NQCruiser]

OK, looks like I've sorted it out. Thanks to the posts by Inventure in another thread, I've made an adaptor harness to go from the new alternator, bypass the external regulator and tap into the original harness again.

This is the older style connector off my original alternator

This is the connector off the new alternator...

This is the old wiring harness connector from the alternator...

I ended up taking the connector off the new alternator and replacing it with a similar, but slightly more generic 3 pin plug that I could use with my adaptor harness, or plug back into an externally regulated alternator in the future if required. I used the pinouts from Inventure's post and double checked with a multimeter, made up a simple 3 wire harness with the same connector on the other end as the external regulator, crossed my fingers and gave it a shot....

Prior to fitting new connector....

End result appears to be a healthy 13.86v output back to the battery and no magic smoke coming out of anything so far. Took it for a drive to charge everything up and test with all lights and A/C running to see if it pulled the volts down. With the A/C running it definitely drops the volts on the voltmeter, but even with lights and spotties going as well, it still holds 12V.

Time will tell if anything is going to burn out prematurely or run the battery flat, but I'm hoping that it might be sorted for the time being.

For the record, Blue on the alt goes to Switched 12V (white with brown spots), Red goes to the Charge light circuit (black/yellow) and White goes to White.

If anything, I might upgrade the harness to include a heavier gauge wire to run where the White wire is now - mine is a little smaller than what was already in the harness, but I checked after my drive and it didn't seem to be getting hot, so maybe not an urgent fix...

Thanks to all that lent some advice too, Big Brown Dog, Tapage & Jan-78FJ40!!

 

[Granite Grinder]

A little late to the party, but my .5. In my FJ40 when I swapped in the V8, I used a chevy alternator, internally regulated. The 2F had an externally regulated alt. I bypassed the external and ran the internal with no problems at all. This is more or less the same thing your doing, I'll bet it will work well.

 

[NQCruiser]

So far so good anyway - took it down to the beach yesterday for a quick swim with my wife & daughter and had no problems. I had a small panic attack when I pulled up to put the hubs in and could smell something burning - lifted the bonnet expecting to see burnt wiring, but no, everything looked fine. Wasn't till I climbed over the first dune and found two guys had lit a fire with some driftwood that I started to relax.......

 

[bigbrowndog]

cool, well done