alternator 3fe

[tclndcrz]

I think my alternator is about to die. When i come to a stop and im still in drive (have breaks on) i heard a strange sound kinda of a low rattle. I figured something was loose so i looked in my engine compartment and saw my alternator shaking violently. I checked to make sure it was mounted firmly and it is. Whats going on? Is my alternator about to go? Its been getting louder lately...

If my alternator is about to go i figured i would go ahead and upgrade. I plan on running a winch and dual batteries in the near future. How much more power do i need? Is mean green in my future? I dont want any crappy chevy products under my hood so you can rule out any gm parts.

 

[Ming89FJ62]

Yep, your alternator is on it's last leg - bearings. If you don't want to go the GM route (much cheaper) you can try Mean Green (around $370). They have a 140 amp unit for the 62. Someone on an earlier post was trying one - haven't heard word of the install. 140 amps should handle the winch w/o any trouble but you'll need to upgrade most of the wiring to handle the extra current. HTH

Ming

 

[dd113]

There is a lot to be said for a mean green except the price. There is a good thread on the PBB about a stock GM "mean green" for a lot less. I really would not fool with it for a stockish 62. Buy a stock replacement. CCOT has great prices on it.

 

[tclndcrz]

Mean Green says that you can plug the alternator into the stock wiring. Do you think this is unsafe? If so what would i need to upgrade? How much longer do you figure i have on my stock alternator? Will i need the larger mean green for the winch?

Thanks guys....

 

[Degnol]

As for those nasty GM parts under the hood...Doesn't Mean Green start with a Delco alternator????
Ed

 

[Ming89FJ62]

There's no way that I'm going to trust 15 year old wiring that been oxidized to a potential 140amp current from a Mean Green. Your's asking for a fire IMHO. The fusing and fusible links are sized for the stock 80amp alternator. Safest way is to use 02 fine wire stranded cable (welding cable) for the + and - and a good fuse to protect the battery. Don't overlook the battery ground - it need to be corrosion free and connected to both the body and the motor (motor mounts act as insulators). If you're going to spend the coin for the MG why skimp on $40 for decent cables and a good fuse?

Ming

 

[fsusteve]

Before you go crazy spending $$$ check and make sure your bolt to adjust tension on the rear of the altenator hasn't fallen out. If the system is charging and the bearings aren't screaming your altenator may be ok. This happened on my 62 and I was sure it was the bearings until I realized I was missing that bolt, $2 and I was back in business.

 

[IDave]

This just happened to me, too. Just seemed to loosen up. Tightened the belt and off we went. No more squealing.

 

[Landpimp]

I recently put a 200 amp Mean Green in my fj60. I upgraded ALL the wiring/cables to 1/0 welding cable. For the alt wiring I left the stock stuff in place(beacuse of the way the links are wired) and ran a 1/0 cable along side the stock stuff, to a Mega Fuse(200 amp) then to the battery.

on the passanger side fender(to the left of the ARB comp) you can just see the Mega Fuse(it has the 2 large red covers on it.

You can find the Mean Greens for $300 thru http://www.mad4wd.com/tek9.asp?pg=products&grp=42

if my 62 or 80 alt was taking a crap I would prolly go with the Mean Green as it's very close to the price of a re-man OEM 80 amp unit.

and yes MG;s are a GM alt.

 

[tclndcrz]

[quote author=fsusteve link=board=1;threadid=8209;start=msg69877#msg69877 date=1070323614]
Before you go crazy spending $$$ check and make sure your bolt to adjust tension on the rear of the altenator hasn't fallen out. If the system is charging and the bearings aren't screaming your altenator may be ok. This happened on my 62 and I was sure it was the bearings until I realized I was missing that bolt, $2 and I was back in business.
[/quote]

i just checked and the bolt is fine.

Landpimp i like your setup. I hate wiring and dont know enough about it so where the hell is my wiring going from my alternator. Looks like it is going back into my truck. And you said you left the alternator wiring alone but ran the 1/0 wiring beside it? Im confused. Help! I want to be prepared before this thing dies on me.

 

[Landpimp]

[quote author=tclndcrz link=board=1;threadid=8209;start=msg70207#msg70207 date=1070394848]
i just checked and the bolt is fine.

Landpimp i like your setup. I hate wiring and dont know enough about it so where the hell is my wiring going from my alternator. Looks like it is going back into my truck. And you said you left the alternator wiring alone but ran the 1/0 wiring beside it? Im confused. Help! I want to be prepared before this thing dies on me.
[/quote]

For some reason I had a blast doing the wiring.....but I kinda like that kinda thing.


the stock alt wiring goes from the alt into 3 fusible links(on a fj60 at least, a 62 will be similar) I left all this in place as the 2 of the links must be left intact. So what I did was make up a 1/0 cable(2 guage would be OK) ran it from the alt(the screw post on the rear) to the Mega Fuse then to the battery, super simple. So now the stock wiring is still in place but if/when the MG puts out some major amps it will have 2 ways to go.....and it will take(hopefully) the path of least resistance(the 1/0 cable) I have been told my theory makes sense........so that makes me happy.

You don't need to mess with the wires in the plug on the rear of the alt, leave them as they are.

Your stock fusible links should be close to the battery, they look just like a wire(as they are a wire that is ment to burn out before the normal wire) there will be a conector of some type on the alt end, the other end might go right to the battery. But again.....you don't need to mess with this.

this pic might help(its a fj60, your alt is on the driver side under the air pump) but the alt should look similar.

see the 2 white wires? they are the stock wiring going to the battery(thru the stock fusible link). The large black wire w/red end is the new cable I ran to the battery(and thru a Mega fuse), they both hook up to the same post on the alt.

the green plug is the stock harness(for sensing voltage or something, I forget) on the MG it plugs into an adapter that goes to the alt........no need to mess with this, it's just a plug in deal

Short version, run a bigger cable/wire from the alt to the battery, leave the stock wiring just like it is.

Ask away if it doesn't make sense(or even if it does) I can look at our fj62s and see what if anything is different, but it should be very similar.

John H

 

[tclndcrz]

Thanks Landpimp! I understand perfectly now.

by the way i love your herd of cruisers. i plan on finding an fj40 in the future to fix up to go along with my fj62 and then add on from there. lol

 

[Landpimp]

did it really make sense? most my ramblings don't : glad it helped

and thank you I LOVE my Cruisers

Keep an eye out for a 81-83 fj40.....they are very nice, drive more like a 60 than a 40.....at least IMOP.

If I could only keep 2 rigs it would be my green 82 fj40 and my 86 fj60......Connie would of course keep her 90 fj62 well I would want to keep the 45 pick up.....gotta have a truck......yeah so that culls the herd down to 4 :


[quote author=tclndcrz link=board=1;threadid=8209;start=msg70431#msg70431 date=1070419872]
Thanks Landpimp! I understand perfectly now.

by the way i love your herd of cruisers. i plan on finding an fj40 in the future to fix up to go along with my fj62 and then add on from there. lol
[/quote]

 

[CruisinGA]

[quote author=Landpimp link=board=1;threadid=8209;start=msg70439#msg70439 date=1070420417]If I could only keep 2 rigs it would be my green 82 fj40 and my 86 fj60......Connie would of course keep her 90 fj62 well I would want to keep the 45 pick up.....gotta have a truck......yeah so that culls the herd down to 4 :
[/quote]
You know where to send the LV off to a loving home...

 

[dd113]

I almost always agree with John H but this time.... On a 40, 55, 0r 60 Mean Green is great. I have never had a need for it and would go with the GM "CS" series alt which is the same thing but requires more fuc..messing with than MG.

With a stock 62 the stock alt is fine. It is actually better than fine. If you have a winch, 6-8 lights, a fridge etc.... I would consider it but even then the OEM alt should be just fine. Especially with upgraded cables.

You will be introducing another link into the system that can go bad. The EFI is very sensitive to correct current. You will also be loading the system. If you have no need for the extra power why pay for it?
Currently I am going with a stock old and used alt to dual batts and an isolater.

I guess where i am going is that when this truck was new it was bulletproof. Buy a stock alt, takes 1/2hr to install with a new belt then forget about it for 100K. Save some cash, save some time and save some worry.

This is just an opinion; it cannot be held against me.

 

[Landpimp]

Thing is I sorta agree with you David. On ourstock 90 fj62, if the alt went out I would prolly go with a reman OEM. But on my 92 fj80, with 12k warn, dual batts, fridge, ect ect, I would go with the Mean Green, I know I have wished for more power more than once. the Mean Green wasn't an option when I last repaced the alt, so I went with OEM.....and it does do the job OK.......but really an extra 60 amps would be NICE

FWIW 3fe alts are 80 amp.
fj40,55,60 alts are either 40 amp or 55 amp.

John H

[quote author=dd113 link=board=1;threadid=8209;start=msg70551#msg70551 date=1070434438]
I almost always agree with John H but this time.... On a 40, 55, 0r 60 Mean Green is great. I have never had a need for it and would go with the GM "CS" series alt which is the same thing but requires more fuc..messing with than MG.

With a stock 62 the stock alt is fine. It is actually better than fine. If you have a winch, 6-8 lights, a fridge etc.... I would consider it but even then the OEM alt should be just fine. Especially with upgraded cables.

You will be introducing another link into the system that can go bad. The EFI is very sensitive to correct current. You will also be loading the system. If you have no need for the extra power why pay for it?
Currently I am going with a stock old and used alt to dual batts and an isolater.

I guess where i am going is that when this truck was new it was bulletproof. Buy a stock alt, takes 1/2hr to install with a new belt then forget about it for 100K. Save some cash, save some time and save some worry.

This is just an opinion; it cannot be held against me.
[/quote]

 

[dd113]

Damn it! How dare you sorta agree with me

I was planning on moving some of the body dies we have stockpiled and having a cage match

 

[Landpimp]

[quote author=dd113 link=board=1;threadid=8209;start=msg70669#msg70669 date=1070473870]
Damn it! How dare you sorta agree with me

I was planning on moving some of the body dies we have stockpiled and having a cage match
[/quote]

I'm feeling mellow today............only reason I can think of?