L300 / L400 alternator rebuild/reconditioning

[jessef]

Alternator talk time.

Kind of ticked off that I'm hearing people paying what I believe to be an inflated cost to service their alternators.

Why service it or replace it ?

It stops supplying voltage to charge the battery/ies.

What causes it to fail ?

99% of the time the voltage regulator fries.

It's usually a poor battery that cooks the regulator which in turn cannot power the battery/ies which in turn kills the batteries.

It's a catch-22.

A malfunctioning alternator will kill batteries. A dead battery can kill an alternator.

A new voltage regulator solves that.

The poor design location of the 4D56 alternator (down low) sucks up mud like a piggy on crack which kills the bearings and windings.

Replacing the bearings and rewinding it solves that.

The beauty of this, if that Delica L300 alternators can be serviced anywhere since the core body, windings, bearings, wiring, electrical prong and voltage regulator are all generic items (sourced locally).

Usually for a voltage regulator, rewinding and bearings will cost on the lowside $150, everything in between, and a highside of $250. Average seems to be around $200.

Shop around.

Most shops shouldn't be charging more than $150-200 or so to rebuild yours.

The hitch is that it has to be out of the vehicle for that cost.

If you have shops re&re (remove/repair/install) the alternator, it can cost anywhere from $150 upwards to 7-800 that I've heard of.

Low side - 30-45 mins removal/install
high side - 1-1.5 hr removal/install

L400 alternators are easier to remove/install as they are easily accessible from the top and don't have the oil sump attached to the rear of the alternator casing.

The place I've had consistent alternator service (I had battery, electrical and alternator issues 4 times on one vehicle and they were patient with my frustration as they explained why my voltage regulator kept frying (crap battery was taking it out).

I've been taking my alternators to Dundee since our first Pajero years ago.

The lowest I paid was $85 and the highest was $160.

I'm not affiliated or even know them well. They are just one or many alternator shops that will rebuild your alternator without charging you an additional $XXX's because it's a Delica.

Dundee Auto Electric Ltd. (604) 533-0515. Suite 2 20701 Langley Bypass, Langley

[Jsq]

The beauty of this, if that Delica L300 alternators can be serviced anywhere since the core body, windings, bearings, wiring, electrical prong and voltage regulator are all generic items (sourced locally).

Thank you kindly for that perfectly timed bit of info. I was just wondering about the L300 alternator today while I was working under the drivers seat. Mine is still good but I'd like to locate a good rebuild shop before it ever goes out on me.

[Manitoba deli]

The diode pack went in the alternator on my l400, causing my batteries to drain down. the alternator is at the Wilson rebuild depo in Manitoba, and they have been unable as of yet to match up a diode pack. A new one (diode pack) is available from Japan for $200 plus shipping. In the meantime, I fitted a 135 amp delco alternator in its place. $294 plus my labour for half a day.

Jason

[jessef]

..or put in a better alternator

[Details Monster]

Thanks for the post; I am one that payed too much for a rebuild ($350). So the second time my alternator died (after my brother-in-law accidentally tried to give me a jump start with reverse polarity , I thought I would try and fix it myself since I was 99% sure it was one or more fried diodes. So I took it apart thinking that I would just unscrew the diode assembly and order a new one. Well it is not that easy. First the diode assembly is soldered to the windings at 4 points with quite a bit of solder; high wattage soldering gun required and hard to get winding wires out of soldering posts. Second the diode assembly is not readily available (I only searched the web and contacted one shop). I was lucky that the shop that first rebuilt my alternator agreed to fix the diode assembly (they actually replace the diodes ). So, in the end I did manage to fix it myself and it cost me $60 for the rectifier repair and new brushes (which often get damaged on alternator dis-assembly).

[JMK]

Great post. I've been wondering about my alternator's lifespan since installing a PERKO switch, a third spiral cell deep cycle battery, and a 1750W inverter. While I do try and keep the load off it as much as possible, I thought it would be handy to have a backup alternator (and now of course regulator too) on hand. Wonder if Glen may have any.....

As well being in the Calgary area, if anything happens I'd ahve to find a decent shop that does alternators around there if possible, or perhaps even send it to Langley?

[Jensen]

Bumping the thread as I'm on the road. So, yesterday with all the hot weather and a van load of kids I had the AC running full blast both front and rear. A little info on my setup, I've got a single battery, an aftermarket voltmeter, my battery is a month old and my alternator is a rebuild that's also a month old.

Anyway, I'm watching my voltmeter as I'm driving around and with everything going (stereo, DRL, AC front and rear) my voltage is LOOOOW, almost 10V! Like an idiot I stop the car at one point (without shutting everything off first and letting the alternator charge up the battery a bit. Sure enough, when I hop back in to get going and put the key in the ignition my Voltmeter (with everything off) show's 11V. The engine will crank but won't start. I get a jump and it's all good, however. It got me thinking about my setup.

I intend to get a deep cycle second battery and run all of my non starter accessories off of that (separated by a diode). That'll keep the non starting issue from coming up again. HOWEVER (and I've dealt with this before designing tour buses and armored vehicles) If the voltage is that low no matter how many batteries I add to the system it's a symptom that the alternator cannot keep up with the demand all of the accessories are putting on it. It's most likely running more than it should and (as they don't have a 100% duty cycle) would burn out prematurely. (I know it's rarely as hot as it has been and I don't drive around for 16 hours a day like a tour bus, but still it's not good for the alternator).

I could I guess not run the stereo, and I could install a switch in my DRL setup so that when I run the AC that's the only load. But what fun is that? I want to be able to run every light, every compressor, every fan and still have enough power to run an inverter and even weld if I felt so inclined! Not that I have a welder on the Deli... yet. Anyway, I noticed a post or two where people mentioned better alternators? I know most rebuild shops won't do custom windings that are ridiculous, so does anybody know of an off the shelf alternator that has some serious balls and swaps in easily? If not I can make some calls and do some research, but I was just hoping somebody knew offhand.

I've done a quick search but I don't have the best "info seeking" skills, plus I'm on the road so I don't have lot's of time to dig. Sorry if this has been covered a bunch of times before and the answer is easy to find.

[TardisDeli]

Hi Jensen, I'm pretty sure no one has found a better alternator. But interesting to read Manitoba Deli's comment above that he's using a generic, should investigate this as Manitoba Deli is a very trusty resource as he has done a lot a troubleshooting to find Delica solutions in a far-off-land of few delii.

I am slightly paranoid about alternators, since life is useless without my tea kettle, electric blanket, microwave, cooler, running off my 1000 w inverter. When I had my alternator repaired a couple years ago I asked all the various experts if it could be replaced or rewound or modified to be stronger than the 60 amp plate on the unit said... all experts said no. FYI, I found my cheapest and best resource was CVI in Richmond -- thank you Edwin who stopped his other work and quickly undid the alternator, it only took a few minutes as Edwin does it by feel (you can't see the upper bolt which causes all the problems) as he knows exactly which bolts to undo and grabs the appropriate skinny socket before curling up like a contortionist under the delica. Then thanks to Mardy who showed me his favourite rebuild place in Richmond (wow, the place looked like a hospital, all painted white with clean stainless steel work benches, absolutely spotless...guess I should find the name again in my receipts). The shop couriered it back to CVI. Meanwhile, I relaxed and read a book in my delica, ate my lunch from the cooler, enjoyed a thermos of hot tea (I had planned ahead for the alternator less time), and pottered on the laptop. Life is good in a camping van.

PS: I just checked the CVI Menu (august 2010), price to re&re which is remove and reinstall the alternator is $85. Then the unit repair is extra, depending on what the rebuild shop does.

Anyone else treied a non-delica alternaotor?

Cheers, Christine.

[Jensen]

Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa... now THIS is what I'm TALKIN' about!

http://www.zena.net/htdocs/alternators/alt_inf2.shtml

[fexlboi]

Maximum Overdrive offers 110A alternators for Pajeros and L300s http://www.delica.ca/forum/delica-and-p ... -1970.html

[JMK]

I also have the potential to overload the alternator, and at times have pondered firing up the Honda 1000 generator on the roof or in a hitch basket and letting it run while I'm driving! As it stands now if I'm driving in winter and I've got the heat on full blast I won't use my driving lights and high beams at the same time and even shut off the stereo to save some load on the alternator. I also installed a third spiral cell battery and a battery isolator switch, and this proved itself once as an instant boost system when the engine batteries were dead from sitting too long.

[almac]

I also have the potential to overload the alternator, and at times have pondered firing up the Honda 1000 generator on the roof or in a hitch basket and letting it run while I'm driving! As it stands now if I'm driving in winter and I've got the heat on full blast I won't use my driving lights and high beams at the same time and even shut off the stereo to save some load on the alternator. I also installed a third spiral cell battery and a battery isolator switch, and this proved itself once as an instant boost system when the engine batteries were dead from sitting too long.

that's quite a nice switch. what is it, and whats' its' amerage rating?

[jessef]

I also have the potential to overload the alternator, and at times have pondered firing up the Honda 1000 generator on the roof or in a hitch basket and letting it run while I'm driving! As it stands now if I'm driving in winter and I've got the heat on full blast I won't use my driving lights and high beams at the same time and even shut off the stereo to save some load on the alternator. I also installed a third spiral cell battery and a battery isolator switch, and this proved itself once as an instant boost system when the engine batteries were dead from sitting too long.

How do you anchor the battery down in the back ?

[JMK]

That is an old pic taken when I was still installing it. Added a webbing strap between 2 anchor bolts.

Can't remember the amp capacity of the switch but it can handle it. That is a cheaper Perko style switch from NAPA, if I did it again I'd buy one of the $75.00 ones rather than a $35.00 one. Also subsequent to that pic the switch was screwed in more securely at about that same position. The bad thing about where this one is mounted is it can easily be switched to 'off' position by a passenger's knee. If that happens when the alternator is under load, you've bricked your alternator. My daughter almost did just that, but fortunately she must have knocked it from position 1 to 2, or 'all' rather than off, because the alternator is still functioning. The position that it is in is largely a function of a position required to be relative to the battery and the inverter as close as possible, and how much cable I had to do it with. It is not however, the best way to do it for obvious reasons. So the concept is good and it has worked for me, but the implementation could be improved upon for sure.

[Jensen]

I was just going to say, putting in a giant switch between 2 batteries has some hazards associated. Besides the alternator issue, if you connect to batteries with different charges (rapidly) you can damage the batteries themselves. When I'm doing my dual battery setup I'm going to go with a smart switch preferably solid state. Although in the past I've used the Cole Hersee ones on big trucks and they've always worked great. I just like the indestructibility factor of the solid state, also, if you're off road and you've using a big solenoid the solenoid can actually bounce open and arc internally killing itself over time. (had that happen with the emergency backup pump on an arial manlift once. The PTO konked out, then when the guy went to use the emergency pump, jack squat happened. The operator got stuck up in the bucket until they could drive another lift in to pick him out, then they had to bleed the cylinders to drop the boom.)