Cheap factory 160a alternator

[Gregturley]

In my search for a better alternator i came across a post by ilya5903 on Cumminsforum.com about using a 2001-03 5.9 Durango 160 amp alternator. Today i hit Pull-a-Part and lucked out. They had 2 Durangos and one was a clean 02 5.9 with the factory alternator. $22 + $7 core. Had it tested on the way home and it works. Swapped the pulley and 15 minutes later its on. Definitely puts out more at idle than the stock 136 amp as i can now have all 3 air compressors, a/c, high blower, headlights and stereo on with truck at 800rpm in drive and had 13.9 volts. 14.2 at idle in drive with everything off.

 Factory pn 56029915AA.

https://www.cumminsforum.com/forum/98-5-02-powertrain/2422026-denso-hairpin-160a-alternator-upgrade.html#/topics/2422026?page=1

[Bullet]

Interesting...I just looked up a brand new one from local parts store and it's $157 + core.  I was gonna go with a Nations 180 Amp for $299.  That's close enough to the 180 Amp to justify the savings.

 

Is it a direct bolt on in regards to connections and mounting flanges...other than just changing the pulley? 

[Gregturley]

@Bullet yes it is other than the pulley. Read through the link i made he's got a lot of good info. The ford pulley he talks about is easy to find on ebay for $10-13. I just used the stock Dodge pulley of my old alternator but think I'll get the ford pulley and try it. It's 58mm, stock mopar is 60mm i think. That will spin it slightly faster.

 I plan on putting the truck on my charging tester at work this week. I'll follow up with what I find.

[Bullet]

30 minutes ago, Gregturley said:

@Bullet yes it is other than the pulley. Read through the link i made he's got a lot of good info. The ford pulley he talks about is easy to find on ebay for $10-13. I just used the stock Dodge pulley of my old alternator but think I'll get the ford pulley and try it. It's 58mm, stock mopar is 60mm i think. That will spin it slightly faster.

 I plan on putting the truck on my charging tester at work this week. I'll follow up with what I find.

Thank you for all that info...please do report back after you test it with what you find out.  That smaller Ford pulley should get a few more amps out of it at lower rpms.  This is a great (and cheaper) alternative for me...great find!

 

Just finished reading through your link...dude did a great write up on it.  The 160 Amp appears to be a better built alternator as well with more diodes.  I'm going to try it out too...gonna see if I can get a lifetime warranty from one of the parts houses and never have to worry about it again. 

Edited January 26, 2020 by Bullet

[Gregturley]

You're welcome, but the guy at Cumminsforum did the hard work. The price was definitely good for me. I can take any alt back as a core so I'm keeping the stock and returning an old gm i have. I've added so much electrical crap to this truck i was looking at a Mechman. I'll try this and see how it goes.

The only difference between my stocker and the Durango was the charging post on the Durango points to the firewall and stock 01 Cummins points to passenger fender. The charging wire fit fine.

Edited January 26, 2020 by Gregturley

[Bullet]

4 minutes ago, Gregturley said:

You're welcome, but the guy at Cumminsforum did the hard work. The price was definitely good for me. I've added so much electrical crap to this truck i was looking at a Mechman. I'll try this and see how it goes.

There was a guy on there that had a bunch of electrical stuff on his too that had nothing success after a year of running it...so it seems like a viable alternative.  The Mechman and Nations are nice but just too damn expensive. 

[Gregturley]

Yeah this guys post was from 2018 with follow ups. I'm hoping with my grid heater controller off most of the time it will live a long happy life.

[IBMobile]

Don't forget to test it for AC noise.

Can you test the amp out put with the 60mm and then the 58mm pully to see if the amp increase is worth the cost of the Ford pully? 

[Gregturley]

@IBMobile I did the W-T fix awhile back. With stock alt i had .01 max. Later on i added a 2 gauge positive crossover cable to the factory 0 gauge, added a 2 gauge negative cablle between the batteries, ran a 2 gauge ground from alt to pass battery. I never checked ac noise after tthose changes. Today i checked before i took off the stocker. I checked after the 160 amp install. I don't believe my results because i showed 0.000 both times today. I will recheck ac tomorrow at work. I have access to 3 different Flukes there.

 I will also test after 58mm pulley install but it may be a couple weeks. I'm ordering the new pulley in the next couple days. Stay tuned.

Edited January 27, 2020 by Gregturley

[kzimmer]

I've been running that alternator for a few months, no issues. 

[Gregturley]

Got the pulley ordered this am should be here Friday. $14 after tax from eBay.

[Gregturley]

Checked a/c voltage at lunch. Idle with nothing on .015-.029. High idle with grid heaters on .025-.032. I rechecked my notes from last test and i was wrong about my max. I had .02 max at idle with nothing on. No notes on high idle or with grids. Have not been able to load test it yet, might be tomorrow.

[Bullet]

9 hours ago, kzimmer said:

I've been running that alternator for a few months, no issues. 

What pulley are you running and do you have any mis-alignment?

[Gregturley]

@Bullet you'll never see 1mm misalignment. People get press on pulleys off by that much or more all the time with no problem. Watching my belt track it looks like it rides right where it always has. Interested to see what @kzimmer says about his.

[Bullet]

34 minutes ago, Gregturley said:

@Bullet you'll never see 1mm misalignment. People get press on pulleys off by that much or more all the time with no problem. Watching my belt track it looks like it rides right where it always has. Interested to see what @kzimmer says about his.

Ok thanks Greg...I was a little curious about that when reading from the link.  Didn't seem like much but good to hear some confirmation.  Also read about how someone said that the Ford pulley wasn't a perfect fit but you can also confirm that pretty soon when yours comes in. 

[Gregturley]

I will measure everything with a good dial caliper. The 2 stock Dodge pulleys fit slightly different. 8 groove fit tighter on the shaft of both alternators. 

1mm=0.03937 inch. 1/25.4 inch.  Like you said not much.

[Blueox01]

This might solve a problem I seemed to have, my belt always gets one rib cut off, have been looking for a 7 rib belt. I know sounds crazy but a 8 rib belt never lasted.

Edited January 28, 2020 by Blueox01

[Gregturley]

@Blueox01 check your crank pulley to make sure its not coming apart. Real common to find when belts start getting torn up.

[Blueox01]

18 minutes ago, Gregturley said:

@Blueox01 check your crank pulley to make sure its not coming apart. Real common to find when belts start getting torn up.

I replaced the damper not to many miles ago, belt doesn't seem to ride in Alt pulley, and that's new

Edited January 28, 2020 by Blueox01

[kzimmer]

14 hours ago, Bullet said:

What pulley are you running and do you have any mis-alignment?

 

I'm running that aftermarket ford pulley from eBay, 1mm offset difference. No issues with alignment. However, the pulley nut did not catch many threads, to the point where I was barely comfortable using it. It's been fine, but I know some people won't be thrilled about that.