ok so how many of you guys running ls engines have had a alternator go out ? if so how many times? what did u replace it with? (oem or other), it seems that in our group that one of use looses a alternator every weekend and so i was wondering if this is common

My ls goes through them pretty good. Mike at ADS recommended getting them brand new from GM, guess I'll give that a try. I'm curious if glueing outerwares around them would help.

yea thats what we did, we got one from gm the first in our group to do so we will see how long this one holds up i wonder if the sand has anything to do with them going bad

I haven't had one go bad yet. The bearings in the alternator don't like the sand and they start to make noise after a season. I have a good parts guy that warranty exchanges the alternator before the beginning of each season.

Mike seemed to think it was the sand and it makes sense. I have started a habit of blowing it out after every run.

Why dont you guys get the lifetime warranty parts from PEP boys or someplace like that. I normally would buy jack from those places, but something like that would seem to be required...

because we seem to think that those are the ones that go out and with them going bad without warning out in the middle of the dunes you need two to keep your weekend going, also being stuck out in the middle of the dunes isnt fun the fuel injection just doesnt really work with a bad alternator

One of the guys in our group owns an auto electric shop and told us blowing them out is not a good idea. He said that it will blow the brushes out and cause a failure.

This is what I did. I found that if you go to someone like NAPA or Carquest and get one with a life time warranty, tell them you want one that was manufactured in the USA. The chinese remans don't seem to last.

I've been told that sand in the brushes will make them stick. Had that issue once last season, a couple love taps on the case seemed to solve the problem.

I'd wonder if Outerwears would stand up to the heat? I'd hate to see what would happen if one melted.

i have been researching the alternator deal for a while now . i went with mike at ADS's suggestion , but the only one with a decent ammount of amperage is the truck alternator at 145 and it runs the car ,but now i shredded a belt because it is slightly different than the ls1 style . clay says it is about one rib longer . clay just got me one on order that is supposed to be the same as the camaro one and is 145 amp. the other issue with the low end alternators is how high these cars rev , when you rev to 7200 the alternator is going 21,000 rpm , clay has some real nice 4 inch pulleys to slow it down , but i still want a good alternator . . i also have him making me a custom three inch pulley to see how that works . it will slow it down at the top a little then but still keep the speed up at idle . i think the two main resaons they fail are the high revs and the fact that alot of us are pushing the alternator to the max for long periods because they are to small . i think we need a minimum 145 amps and most of the car ones are in the 100 amp range . not that the sand does affect them , i just think as quick as most are failing it is more likely what i described . jmho . tim

i was told that sand has tiny particles of iron in it and it gets stuck on anything magnetic and ruins the brushes.

I had mine upgraded to 180 AMP's and then they coated the internal in some kind of epoxy or resin. I haven't had any problems since.

who did that for you ? what did it cost ? how long have you been running that ? tim

I have a lifetime warranty, guess what good that did out on the dunes?
I would rather find a fix for the problem.

I had a new one from carquest last 20 minutes, when the engine went over 4000 rpm,then the diode tree let go. I bought a new GM one,at sweet maries, and it worked perfect. I had the orig one gone thru,at Chandler auto elec when I got home, and he bumped up the amperage and put a HD diode tree in it. Put it back on the car and has never skipped a beat. I keep the other as a spare,but have never had to use it. Either buy a new GM one or have one gone thru and put the good stuff in it.

I made a rear cover out of aluminum for mine its been three years now since the original and no problems

A buddy of mine was eating them up like crazy when all the rest of us in the group havent lost one yet! What we came up with is the fact that he would run his stereo for long periods of time til it drained the battery really low. What was hard on the alternator was trying to recharge the battery and run the rest of the electronics in the car at the same time. So now he doesnt play the stereo that long and hasnt had a problem since.

Small world, the owner of Chandler Auto Elec is a good friend of mine.

he definately hooked me up with a good product.

I think they just plain overheat..
Someone needs to design better cooling for them.

I have had my alternator since I purchased it in 05. Not one problem. As others in our camp go through them. Don't know why?

Found this at LS1Tech

Ive had this problem on a few cars...solution was to install an inline resistor to the alternator, it will keep the alternator from putting out to much and burning itself up.

They are .99 cents from Radio shack for the resistors and you cut and solder it inline in the single wire to the plug on the alternator (the little 16 gauge wire).

Can you post a link? Or resistor specs?

Hey Tim I had GenStar on Glendale and about 63rd ave rebuild my 105 amp alt and make it 140 amp for around $60 bucks. It was the same price to go to 160 amp or 180 amp. I have had no issues with my alt since I did this last season.

Mine is on my 4th season no problem yet. I do pressure wash mine with water every trip and then spray electrical contact cleaner in there to dry things out.

10.4 hrs on mine! No problems yet

I had mine rebuilt with and for a "marine" application sealed bearings coated stuff inside. I know i do alot of wheelies so the sand just acts like sand paper in the brushes and the stator. We are a usually in a group of 6 or so. I always carry a spare hi torque starter and alternator in the trailer. Its proved to be priceless to my friends. Now we dont have to pay millions at sweet maries or be down for 4 hours going into town. I mean how much does a starter and alternator cost? You are gonna need them sooner or later might as well have a spare bought on your terms.

That should be the trigger wire and should always either have an idiot light or a resistor. Without the trigger wire your alternator will not start charging unless you have what is called a “one wire alt”. What everyone is talking about here is a correctly wired alternator.

This is an interesting thread. I didn't know they could upgrade the GM alternator for the HD output.

I do know that the sadn is going to chew up alternators, no matter what. Cleaning em out or a cover that protects them is a good idea. VW guys also replace or lose their alternators frequently.

The thing to do is carry a spare. Since they are gonna die, I just carried a spare from PEP boys with a lifetime warranty, and use it when needed.

I need to replace mine as well. Which alternators fit? It looks like the Camaro and Corvette have a different housing. I see some listed with an OEM clutch pulley, what does that do? Does it matter if it's for a manual or auto trans?

^^^^^^ Yeah...what he said!

This thread got me thinking about getting a spare for the car just in case. I dug around a little online but didn't really come to any conclusion on what year/model car was the best source for one. I'm sure the yahoo at VatoZone wouldn't have any problems finding one for a "Offroad car with an LSX engine"

I did better with the idiot at the parts store than the absolute MORON at the Chevy dealer in Chino Valley!! Talk about a useless LAZY fool!! Couldn't even get off his stool to look for anything. I even brought the alt in with me, gave him a year range for the truck and since I couldn't give him exact year and exact motor, he told me tuff luck!! There were no NUMBERS on the alt to help him, he might have had to get hiss fat (_|_) off the stool to go in the back and look so it wasn't worth the $300 they want for an alt!! Do I sound a little upset about it? I guess that's what happens when the Government takes over a company
My guy at Kragen took one look at it and told me exactly what it was!

So the "I got a secret" game is kind of cool but what the eff* did you get?

'96 Astro Van V6 is commonly used for LS series engines.

Do the LS1 equipped 'Vette alternators work ('01-04 I believe)? Most of the alternators for it seem to be 145-150 amps.

The alternators out of a 02 through 04 Chevy Tahoe produce 130 + amps. They are slightly bigger than the standard alternator that most seem to run so a longer belt will be needed. Other than that the pulleys line up and the electrical plug is the same and it bolts right in. Redline sells a modified alternator, they machine the shaft for straightness and put better bearings in it. I think they also upgrade the diode pack as well.

i finally got my alt. issues solved . i used a stock alt from a 2003 chevy siverado , with electric fans , then clay made me a 3 inch pully to slow it down so it does not fly apart at high speeds , but still charges great at idle . one thing to note , i had a couple of custom made alternators tested at a local shop . they would not put out a charge until some fairly high rpm's . when i asked the guy testing them he told me that is typical of a high output alt. they put out a lot at the top but little at lower rpm's . they did put out quite a bit , the 160 actually made 180 but it was only at high rpm . with this stock alt. i can have both nitrous heaters , both cooling fans , gps , race radio, intercomm etc. and still have 13.3v at idle . even with all the lights and basicaly everyhting except nitrous heaters i have over 13 at idle . hope this helps somebody. i sure went through a lot of testing to arrive at some simple solutions . tim

What value for the resistor. I've had my car for 1 year and just replaced my altenator for the first time. It wasn't totally dead, but dying (only producing 11 amps). Fortunately, they're easy to replace. I'm all about stocking spare parts to save a weekend/trip. When Bruce (CBM) dyno'd my car and fixed my cooling issue (running lean). I bought a slew of parts that will go out in the next few years; Water Pump, Fuel Pump, Altenator, Starter, Pully Tensioner, and another dozen parts n' pieces that frankly ABC doesn't know what the heck they are.. but I have 'em!

On a side note, I'm on my 3rd, Auto Meter sending unit (that goes on the block) which sends a message to the oil pressure gauge. Terrifying to see no oil pressure (although each time its just this dead sending unit).

abc

Lots of good alternator info at madelectric.com.

Be careful what alt you use and how you wire them, some are not designed to just have one wire hooked to them which is why some of you are having good luck and some not so good

Info here http://oljeep.com/gw/alt/edge_Alternator_T....html#Section_4

We started having our alternators built with a heavy duty regulator and fixed 90% of our failures. $135 and you are good to go

Gotta grab an alternator this weekend. Lots of different posts, what seems to be the best way to go?

Grabbed the alternator this morning. The proper unit for my application was for a '99 Chevy 1/2 ton (100amp) truck.

The old alternator had a pin broken on the connector. I assume this can be repaired fairly easily; any suggestions?

Does the wire connector even have a pin there?

That is the Regulator....You can unbolt it but will need to solder the connections back on it,simple to fix

now i want a spare for my dohc 2.5 turbo subaru, anyone know what it came out of? i know for my honda, there were 6-8 that would work. it is a s&s motor, no comments please, been there, done that!

Yup. That is actually the only pin that is connected (single wire).

Outfront will have chrome ones in stock. If you want non chrome any auto parts store should have it. Take your current one to make sure Subaru didn't change the plugs. Try a mid 90's outback or 2002-2004 WRX.

Sparks coming out of my brand new alternator, gotta return that sometime this week Always something!