Outer Limits 4x4 Board

Anyone got any hints and tips on improving the life of alternators in 4bys? mainly concerning dust, dirt, mud damage. Apart from the obvious methods of trying to shield them and giving them a spray with waterproofing stuff like lanolin, wd40, crc etc....any other ideas?

dank wrote:Anyone got any hints and tips on improving the life of alternators in 4bys? mainly concerning dust, dirt, mud damage. Apart from the obvious methods of trying to shield them and giving them a spray with waterproofing stuff like lanolin, wd40, crc etc....any other ideas?

A splash shield to stop mud getting in will help but spraying lanolin isn't necessary as an alt will work underwater and lanolin just makes dust stick.
I helped make a filter housing to mount the alt inside on a Volvo loader.It was a mongrel job but worked well eventually. We used two 5" thermo fans to suck air through a Donaldson precleaner and a filter and blow through a 4" pipe to the alt in a sealed box and then out to the engine air cleaner.

want33s wrote:

dank wrote:Anyone got any hints and tips on improving the life of alternators in 4bys? mainly concerning dust, dirt, mud damage. Apart from the obvious methods of trying to shield them and giving them a spray with waterproofing stuff like lanolin, wd40, crc etc....any other ideas?

A splash shield to stop mud getting in will help but spraying lanolin isn't necessary as an alt will work underwater and lanolin just makes dust stick.
I helped make a filter housing to mount the alt inside on a Volvo loader.It was a mongrel job but worked well eventually. We used two 5" thermo fans to suck air through a Donaldson precleaner and a filter and blow through a 4" pipe to the alt in a sealed box and then out to the engine air cleaner.

How did you seal the alt in a box? Pulley out the front? Did you extend the front shaft?

-Scott- wrote: How did you seal the alt in a box? Pulley out the front? Did you extend the front shaft?

Pulley out the front, correct...
Extended shaft, no.
It was a large 24V alt in a Volvo BM front end loader.
The 'box' was a three piece affair that clamped together. Front had to be fitted to alt before pulley went on. The main bit had holes cut in it for the alt mounting tabs to protrude and was Sikaflexed on.
The rear piece which had the wiring and the air outlet was held in by clamps on the centre section. The clamps were the 'over centre' type commonly used on car air cleaner lids. I think the ones we used were off a hilux.

when ever i go play in d mud i give both my alternator and my starter a flush with a garden hose and then run it for a bit to dry it out auto elec at work says its the best thing 4 it

There are "screens" available for some Bosch alternators to help with this problem.

Or if you want to permanently fix it and don't mind spending the dollars - just buy a fully sealed - water cooled alternator. Pricey but permanent.

MightyMouse wrote:Or if you want to permanently fix it and don't mind spending the dollars - just buy a fully sealed - water cooled alternator. Pricey but permanent.

Yep, marine alternator but indeed expensive... $600 plus. If I went through a lot of mud on a regular basis I'd consider it.

The other thing of course is relocating the alternator to a high position in the engine bay, you get a lot more mud down low compared to up high.

Don't know about marine - but the ones I am referring to are automotive, more commonly fitted to diesel trucks and the like. And $600 is a bargain....

there is room on the sierra block up high on the other side...currently its bolted waaay down low in the usual spot only partly protected by the plastic splash guard that is a stock part for the 4by....might look into bolting it up higher on the other side of the block...

so its ok to hose them out? i usually try to avoid it coz i thought it was bad . how do u flush a starter motor?