Date: 2003, Apr 17
Author: Tad G
By: Dave
GM 180Amp High output Alternator conversion from stock Hitachi 60/70Amp on Isuzu 3.2L SOHC
I've had serious Alternator problems in the past. Most coming from a short in the Alt/Battery Harness (It's a crapy design on the 3.2 SOHC). Matt at Independent 4X hooked me up with a friend of his that converted his stock Alt to a GM H/O alt 180Amp. On his Rodeo 3.2 SOHC.
Doug Brown was the guy that originally did this. Thanks Doug, Ill toss some pics of your rig in this.
Well After talking to him I decided to go for it, this would eliminate the factory wiring harness for the battery and deliver more charging power for my lights/winch when I get the added down the road.
I'm going to try and detail this as much as possible without being too long.
I ordered the Alternator from Alterstart: http://www.4alterstart.com/ They are in TX the cost was roughly $129 The new Harness was $9 or so and $16 in shipping to Florida.
Here is the Alternator: 3 different shots it is slightly larger than the stock Alternator, but the biggest difference is the exterior cooling fan.
You will notice the 2 wire pigtail included as well as the spacers and additional pulley. The spacers and additional pulley will need to be changed and positioned level with the drive pulley. The new alt pulley sits back slightly so without the spacers the belt will rub against the engine. I used 3 spacers to make the distance of drive pulley and Alt pulley level with each other.
There are three small bolts on the back of the Alternator, these need to be removed and reposition the back so the pigtail harness sits at the 12 o'clock position when mounted. It makes getting to the power out bolt tight, but doable. Best suggestion would be to attach your new 4gauge battery wire before you tighten every thing down. Took me 10 minutes and some bruised knuckles to attach and tighten it down after installed.
The outside harness clip is just cut off and the wires stripped. These will attach to the old harness wires after you strip them down as well. You have 3 wires connecting to the old Alternator 2 keyed and 1 hot. The two keyed attach to the yellow, the hot attaches to the red. Ill get more into that later.
Here is the stock Hitachi Alternator mounted in the Trooper. You can see the difference right off. The Trooper has a 70Amp while the Rodeo has a 60Amp. This is what I am told.
Removal is a pain, I want to thank a friend of mine for letting me use his store to do this. Nothing like having the truck on a Hydraulic lift for this.
After you remove the Alternator, I had to remove the bracket that held it as well. There is some kind of guard on the bracket that prevents the new alt from fitting in. I cut this guard off as you see in the first picture. I also needed a bit more room to tilt the bracket up fro the new Alt. You can see the sleeve on the top of the bracket, where I cut a groove down it. The groove allows the bolt to shift just a tad in the bracket so I can get both mounting bolts in. I don't think this is necessary, I might have been able to shift the bracket hard enough to do this without cutting. But this was easier.
Author: Tad G
By: Dave
GM 180Amp High output Alternator conversion from stock Hitachi 60/70Amp on Isuzu 3.2L SOHC
I've had serious Alternator problems in the past. Most coming from a short in the Alt/Battery Harness (It's a crapy design on the 3.2 SOHC). Matt at Independent 4X hooked me up with a friend of his that converted his stock Alt to a GM H/O alt 180Amp. On his Rodeo 3.2 SOHC.
Doug Brown was the guy that originally did this. Thanks Doug, Ill toss some pics of your rig in this.
Well After talking to him I decided to go for it, this would eliminate the factory wiring harness for the battery and deliver more charging power for my lights/winch when I get the added down the road.
I'm going to try and detail this as much as possible without being too long.
I ordered the Alternator from Alterstart: http://www.4alterstart.com/ They are in TX the cost was roughly $129 The new Harness was $9 or so and $16 in shipping to Florida.
Here is the Alternator: 3 different shots it is slightly larger than the stock Alternator, but the biggest difference is the exterior cooling fan.
You will notice the 2 wire pigtail included as well as the spacers and additional pulley. The spacers and additional pulley will need to be changed and positioned level with the drive pulley. The new alt pulley sits back slightly so without the spacers the belt will rub against the engine. I used 3 spacers to make the distance of drive pulley and Alt pulley level with each other.
There are three small bolts on the back of the Alternator, these need to be removed and reposition the back so the pigtail harness sits at the 12 o'clock position when mounted. It makes getting to the power out bolt tight, but doable. Best suggestion would be to attach your new 4gauge battery wire before you tighten every thing down. Took me 10 minutes and some bruised knuckles to attach and tighten it down after installed.
The outside harness clip is just cut off and the wires stripped. These will attach to the old harness wires after you strip them down as well. You have 3 wires connecting to the old Alternator 2 keyed and 1 hot. The two keyed attach to the yellow, the hot attaches to the red. Ill get more into that later.
Here is the stock Hitachi Alternator mounted in the Trooper. You can see the difference right off. The Trooper has a 70Amp while the Rodeo has a 60Amp. This is what I am told.
Removal is a pain, I want to thank a friend of mine for letting me use his store to do this. Nothing like having the truck on a Hydraulic lift for this.
After you remove the Alternator, I had to remove the bracket that held it as well. There is some kind of guard on the bracket that prevents the new alt from fitting in. I cut this guard off as you see in the first picture. I also needed a bit more room to tilt the bracket up fro the new Alt. You can see the sleeve on the top of the bracket, where I cut a groove down it. The groove allows the bolt to shift just a tad in the bracket so I can get both mounting bolts in. I don't think this is necessary, I might have been able to shift the bracket hard enough to do this without cutting. But this was easier.