HELP!!!, need some alternator questions answered.

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Crookedaxle

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I'm stranded here at work today with a bad alternator. Nobody has an alternator for a '93 K2500 w/454 at the local boneyards. Will one for a small block TBI work or not? If it's just a matter of re-clocking the terminals to the other side of the case can it be done in the parking lot easily enough? Can you just pull the small bolts and rotate it without taking it apart? The alternator looks like it will take about 5 minutes to swap out so no big deal there being it's below zero out with winds that want to blow me away. If I can't get anything from the boneyards it looks like I'm paying over $120 for a POS rebuilt from all three of the auto parts places I called. I can get a NEW one from Amazon or Rock Auto for under $60. WTF!
 

RawbDidIt

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Check the harness connection. If it matches it should work to get you home, but may not have the power you need to get it home. The cs130d that came in the TBI models should match your bolt pattern, but you're probably not getting the 140a that likely came from your factory alternator. That alternator also has a few different plug styles. You can shove the wires in a pinch, but know that you'll still likely have to get another one anyway. The location of the terminal makes no difference as long as it doesn't short to ground, and your charging cable will reach.

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Crookedaxle

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Check the harness connection. If it matches it should work to get you home, but may not have the power you need to get it home. The cs130d that came in the TBI models should match your bolt pattern, but you're probably not getting the 140a that likely came from your factory alternator. That alternator also has a few different plug styles. You can shove the wires in a pinch, but know that you'll still likely have to get another one anyway. The location of the terminal makes no difference as long as it doesn't short to ground, and your charging cable will reach.

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Thanks for the reply! A couple of the boneyards are telling me that the front case is different???
 

Crookedaxle

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I found an original Delco-Remy at the boneyard locally for $40. Now the wife just has to drive 40 miles on ****** roads to bring it down to my work. I better be nice to her this weekend!
 

884x4310ci

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As far as I know these trucks only came with 2 different alternators the cs130 and the cs144.
a while back I took a alternator off a 4.3 v6 and install on v8 had to clock the back to face the plug at the right place.
 

Crookedaxle

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As far as I know these trucks only came with 2 different alternators the cs130 and the cs144.
a while back I took a alternator off a 4.3 v6 and install on v8 had to clock the back to face the plug at the right place.


The guy from the boneyard sent me pics of it so I'm pretty sure it's clocked correctly with the correct connector. My biggest concern was if I can re-clock it easily enough just by removing the three small bolts and turning it with out popping the brushes off of the slip rings etc. etc. Can you? Or is it a bit more involved? And is that all you're paying a premium price for (the correct clocking) at the damn auto parts places over a small block TBI? NAPA was going to charge me a $65 core charge that I would have to eat because the case is junk so I'd be knocking on the door of $200 and they didn't have one in stock anyways.
 

884x4310ci

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Yeah. You can reclock it without popping the brushes. But if you want you can always put a small piece of wire to hold them but be on the safe side.
 

upper_tanker

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I understand that you need to get this thing mobile ASAP, but as soon as you do, I'd do a cs144-ad244 swap. I did the swap on my dads 91 c3500hd dump truck with the 454 TBI. I HIGHLY suggest doing it. CES makes some great alternators. They're not the cheapest around, but they're definitely some high quality alternators with a lifetime labor warranty. Jonathan's customer service is second to none. He even includes the new harness that you will need. I only had to grind a little bit of the lower bracket, and it slid right on. With an empty bed with the old alternator, it would dip down to 10.4v and stay there. Now, with this alt (and multiple runs of 0 gauge wire...big 6), it will dip to 12.5v and then go back up to 14.2v while lifting 5k#. It's most likely overkill for your application, but he does make smaller ones.
 

Crookedaxle

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Welp, the one the wife brought down is not correct. I had to sleep in the garage last night when we got home. It's supposedly from a 5.0 TBI. The rear case is the same and the front case is the same diameter but the two main mounting tabs are clocked a little different in relation to each other and the are closer to the case. The wide main mounting tab is clocked correctly to the rear case so that's why everything looked correctly in the pics. So much for all TBI motors being interchangeable. And from what I understand they are both CS130's going off of the case diameters. I don't understand why the hell it would be different like this compared to the ones for a small block.
 
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