Outer Limits 4x4 Board

It looks like my Alternator is on it's way out (for the 2nd time). It's been flashing the brake and charge lights and being selective about when it charges the battery. Usually a few taps gets it charging again. I noticed that when i accelerate it charges and when i idle it stops. I was hoping it was just some dirt or something but it's been happening for a few days now.
Does anyone know of a heavy duty one that can be fitted? Are they most of the time rebuilt? shouldn't i be getting more than 8 months out of one?

mabye its just the brushes that need cleaning.
how confident are you in pulling it apart

Not very but i'll give anything a go.....

Probably easier to get a sparkie to do it. Otherwise it'll be off the road for at least two weeks. Problem is that they will end up doing the whole thing and charging me a fortune.

You most likely have mud/dirt in the bushes. Get the manual and a day off and pull it apart and clean it. It shouldn't be worn so soon.

Hi mate,

Same thing happened to me a couple of weeks ago with the brake charge light flashing when you were in idle and going off under acceration. I just sprayed wd 40 and hit with a screwdriver and hammer. Strangley enough that worked hasn't skip a beat since, over 1000 ks of on and off road abuse so I suspect it was a loose wire or something. If that doesn't work then I'd get a auto electrian to test before pulling the alternator.
When you said you done your alternator eight months ago was that replacement or recondition? I'd say you would have no guarentee with second hand or reconditioned alternator especially if you have immobilizer and/or central locking. If you are chasing an aftermarket alternator Repco used to sell them not sure about now you could check.

Yeah it was a recon one.

It started playing up a few weeks ago and I did the same thing, tapped some sense in to it. It was ok for awhile but then it when all dirty on me the other day. Hasnt been the same since.

If i had a day I could take off I would. Looks like it might be sitting on the driveway for a few weeks....

Thinking of getting Bosch 80amp.....

Does anyone know the factory ampage on standard Alternators on a narrow track 94 model F300? Couldnt find it anywhere in the manual.

hey lown..... i had a problem with my alternator a few months back, came to find out that the neg wires that come from the neg terminal on the batter and the neg wire for the wire harness from the cab both connect together onto one terminal on the neg. port of the alternator, should be a wire thats up on top of the alternator, right next to the postive plug. check that wire and make sure its not broken or making bad contact, it turns out mine was broken and holding on by a few threads. i stripped the coating off, rewrapped it togethether and reattached it. hasnt been a problem since. be sure to check it out.

http://www.aea.com.au/shopping/index.ht ... Denso.html

The original feroza alternator is 55 amps. Should be the same I think.

Yeah mate... just spray a crapload of wd40 into it until it's spilling out then let it idle for a while and keep sprying into it from time to time... What often happens is a film of dirt forms between the brushes and the picups and just needs to be cleaned. Just reaslised I am saying the same thing almost everyone has said but sometimes you just gotta be told 6 or 7 times. One thing I do know is that it is a royal pain in the arse to take off because of where it is. Hope you dont mind the scrapped knuckles... then again... wear some gloves...

alt is easier than most think to remove and clean out. just pull the pwr steer pump off and bend out of the way then ya got easy acces to alt. i did many times on the side of tracks . Really bad design for a 4x4. they have an internal fan that sux air (and mud) in to cool it down.

Got the alt off. it's making a whining sound when i turn the pulley wheel which doesnt sound right at all.

Thinking of upgrading. Does anyone know of a higher amp alt for the feroza? tried bosch but they dont seem to make them.

Seems silly to have it recon only to fail months down the track again. I also noticed that my engine bay seems to cop more dust than other feza's. Dont know if its because its a narrow track and has different guard cut outs????

Is there anyway of cleaning alt's after trips without having to strip it down? would the soaking of wd 40 after each trip do it?

lowndsie wrote:Got the alt off. it's making a whining sound when i turn the pulley wheel which doesnt sound right at all.

Thinking of upgrading. Does anyone know of a higher amp alt for the feroza? tried bosch but they dont seem to make them.

Seems silly to have it recon only to fail months down the track again. I also noticed that my engine bay seems to cop more dust than other feza's. Dont know if its because its a narrow track and has different guard cut outs????

Is there anyway of cleaning alt's after trips without having to strip it down? would the soaking of wd 40 after each trip do it?

Put one from aConformadore in...80A.....just bootyfab a new bracket. Thebeauty of the commodore one is that it has an external fan to push the water and mud away from it rather han you current on which hs an internal fan which helps it suck !!!

That site link Em posted earlier has got pics and mounting dimensions for all the alternators. Maybe try looking through the lot and try to find the one closest with a higher rating?

Don't forget to post your results- I want to upgrade mine when it dies.

Grrrrrrr.....

I've exhausted all my sources (except one) and do u think i can find an alt that is what i'm after.

I want an 80amp alt with an external fan. Very hard to source when no one wants to help.

Well it looks like i'm gunna have to go standard....

how boring.

Thinking of buying new and then getting the old one recon so i'll have a spare.....

I used to have a 120-150Amp alternator.... never was quite enough.. But with the current set up the 50amp seems ample.. Nothing a second battery won't fix.

Ok well i'm picking up an 80amp commodore alt 2morrow. Gunna try and do the install myself and c what happens. Getting the plug fitted whilst picking up the alt. so we'll c what happens.

Extending the brackets will be interesting too but i'll email pix to anyone interested.

One sparky said that the standard fez alt. is one of the worst for 4wding. Another also spoke rather poorly of the one's from em's post.

Email me any pics you take thanks. I'll post them on here too.

At least the with the Commodore option spares will be cheap and readily available.

Around the 200 mark for a new commo alt. I'm getting trade price so not sure what they retail for.

well the new alt. is on....WOOT.

It took awhile longer than expected but at least it's bloody well on. I didn't need to modify the brackets all that much. I had to grind off a little off the bottom bracket because the external alt. fan was hitting it. I also had to space out the bottom of the alt. to fit into this bracket. The top bracket was also grinded a shaving off to lower it enough the get the alt. in place. Then I filed out an angle on the 2nd screw hole (closest to the alt.) so that the braket could be raised up enough to allow the alt. adjusting screw to be put in place. Once all this was done I was sure that I needed a larger belt because of the size of the pulley, but as it worked out I just got the belt on with enough room for adjustment.
The pulley on the new alt. was much wider than the belt, but in a way it worked out well because I had the room to make sure everything was lined up ok.
The alt. was a Bosch from a commodore V8. We ordered a V6 one but they sent the wrong part. But anyway, it worked out ok. The only difference I could tell would be that the V6 one would have the right sized pulley on it. It's an 85 amp one too.
I guess the hardest part was not having a 2nd person to hold the alt. while trying to work from underneath (my fingers god dam HURT). Considering I'm not very mechanically minded at the best of times, I think it would take much less time for most people.
The alt. was $200 but I did get a one off trade price on it and all the plugs probably cost another 10 bucks or so. And yes it was a brand new one.
The prices I was being quoted for a recon standard Fez alt was just plain rediculous. It was cheaper to buy a new one that it was to recon the old one. How the hell does that work? mind you, no sparky actually told me this though.
Anyway, i'll be sending you the pix murcod just as soon as i get them onto the pc.

And thanx for everyone's advice and tips.....especially to you Besty for the commodore idea.

lowndsie wrote:And thanx for everyone's advice and tips.....especially to you Besty for the commodore idea.

Glad it worked out for you

It will also be easier for you when you run a second battery and a winch....power to spare.....even run a fridge........

Well thats what i will be doin next time my alt craps itself.
Am on my 2nd reco one at the moment. The first one only lasted 12 months.
A few weeks ago it was struggeling to run, Engle fridge, UHF, GPS and lights. It would drop below 12v at idle.
So a higher capacity one would be fantastic.
Can't wait to see the pics.

For anyone interested, here are Jason's pics from fitting the new alternator.

http://home.swiftdsl.com.au/~murcod/Alternator/

Looks like a factory original fit!

Do you have the part number for the alternator- or know which model Commodore it's off?

after zooming into the pictures and visiting bosch's website the part number for this alternator is
bosch bxh1231 and is off a holden v8's.

this alternator is for the ribbed fanbelts where mine is the straight fanbelt. so not sure if this will easly fit my 91 fez.

i put a universal 120 amp Bosch alt on my Mr2 back in 98, just found a pulley at the wreckers that matched my belts and fitted on the alt.
when/if the feroza one dies, i'll most probably go the same route. need to upgrade the poxy little battery 1st.

tufferoza wrote:need to upgrade the poxy little battery 1st.

Just fit a dual battery set up!

yea, that might be on the cards oneday. i'll just whack a bigger battery in for now.