Finished CS144 alternator upgrade

[6.2Blazer]

My stock 66-amp SI-12 alternator finally died so after a little research I decided to upgrade to a 140-amp "large case" CS144 alternator. The reason for the upgrade is that the CS144 puts out a lot more amps at idle and is supposed to be more reliable than a "souped up" SI-12 version.

Since the CS144 is physically bigger, the upper mounting bracket needs modified. On most applications you can simply shim up the bracket, but the 6.2 diesel setup makes this more of a problem. As you know, the water cross-over pipe and fitting for the heater hose sits right above the bracket and does not allow enough room to shim the bracket up. I finally resolved the problem by replacing the stock hose nipple fitting with a 45 degree fitting and make a large notch in the bracket. It took a couple of hours to get everything fitting correctly.

Other than the bracket mods, it's pretty easy. I bought an adapter harness for $12.95 since the plugs are different between them, and also upgraded to a 4 gauge cable from the alternator to the battery. Now it's time to get the winch mounted /forums/images/graemlins/thumb.gif

 

[tRustyK5]

If you have some pic's of the mount or the hose nipple I'd love to see them. /forums/images/graemlins/waytogo.gif

My alt is pretty new (and 78 amp) but I'm sure there are a few guys here that could benefit from your pic's.

Rene

 

[6.2Blazer]

It was late last night when I finished, but I will try to get some pictures next week.

 

[odee1]

What application did you get the new alternator for? The plug in was it a stocking item or dealer?

 

[6.2Blazer]

I bought all of the parts from www.alternatorparts.com. You can get a reman'd alternator a little cheaper but you would then have to pay the core charge, or go junkyarding for a used alternator........and really not save that much money in the long run. I'm not sure of the exact application, but I believe you could look up a late-80's, early 90's Chevy truck and find a 140 amp alternator listed.