ab1
With a demanding sound system and Led headlights the stock alternator is already far overwhelmed. And with a new engine coming along ill be adding electric fans which will completely roast the 65 amp alternator (possibly 55amp)
I found this as a possible option im not sure if anyone has any experience fitting a 240 alternator or other on a b20 or b30
http://europartshouse.com/index.php?main_page=page&id=18
Would love someone to shed some light on the situation
Cheers
Vspeed
I fitted a late model ford falcon 120a alternator to my B20.
It was a easy conversion.much better than the original 35a alternator
ab1
how did you go about doing that?
Vee_Que
With led headlights you have far less current draw actually. So the alternator is probably just dying. But you can basically bolt in a 940 100a denso alternator.
I'm fittin one to my 122 which has the alternator on the opposite side, but it is on a custom bracket because of that side. A falcon /commodore one is an option. How close to a wrecker are you?
ab1
not far at all @Vee_Que
ab1
@Vee_Que how have you made the bracket and also how much did you pay for the alternator?
Angus242164
There are numerous options, it's a fairly basic mounting setup so bolting on alternators from other makes and models may be as simple as using some washers to get the spacing correct so that the pulley is aligned with the crank and water pump pulleys, or it may require changing the pulley if it has a multi rib style rather than a V groove.
Something I did years ago on a 240 was to take the original 55A 240 alternator, and an 85A alternator from a VN Commodore, and fit the VN rotor, stator, diode plate, regulator and rear housing to the 240 front housing, and used the 240 pulley. This resulted in a direct bolt on replacement with higher output and a more modern regulator. Both alternators were Bosch units of the same basic design, which made this possible.
If your 164 has a Bosch alternator of the same design (I think most of the '74's did but earlier ones may be SEV Marschal), then it may be possible to do the same thing.
VN's are getting a bit rare in the wreckers but the same basic 85A alternator was used up to VR series 1, and also on '90's Magna's and Camry's so shouldn't be hard to find.
Vee_Que
I bought a bracket from a guy on the states. But on volvo adventures website they cover the adaption for a 140, which will be the same as the 164.
Ea-el falcons may be correct.
Angus242164
My '69 142 has the alternator on the opposite side to my '74 164.
Vee_Que
Yes, it will be the same as my 122s alternator, 71' on went to the top location....
Angus242164
The '69 142 and a B20 from a '69 122 I've got here both have it up high on the right (when standing in front of the car, looking at the front of the engine), the 164 has it down low on the left, under the intake manifold.
The 164's PS is down low on the right, with the AC above it.
ab1
ill have a look around at the newer bosch alternatives as that may prove the easiest option just swapping the intervals and rear housing out
Im not sure if you can help me here but the current alternator ive got is giving me grief... at idle the amp light and brake failure and parking brake light all come on but above 2500rpm they go off... i believe its a grounding but ive checked the grounds behind the battery i played around with them and the other wires from the alternator which it was fixed momentarily and now back to square one. i tried to remake the grounds but it has not done anything. what stops me from thinking its a regulator issue is the fact it fixed itself and was charging 13.5 after playing around with the wires but i can't find any breaks
Vee_Que
If you play with the wires and it fixes it. It possibly is the maim feed wire, John would know what to look for.
If the alternator is in the same place as my 122' does, on the driver side, then there is a bracket available that will mount a 100a 940 denso alternator on. Which, imo is a much beget unit than any bosch one, $140 for the bracket and it aligns correctly, no mucking around with alternator internals etc. I'm always replacing bosch alternators on trucks and buses vs other makes too, so I'm not a fan of them.
deleted_user_160
There is an online calculator that can give you the amperage draw of the rated halogen vs the led headlight.
I'm in the process of changing all my lights to led in the 142, for a couple of reasons.
The headlights are 104w total, which equates to similar amperage as the 55/60w halogen candle light units.
Angus242164
Divide watts by volts to get amps, 7.5 amps for your headlights at 13.8v.
deleted_user_160
12v - 60w = 5a halogen
12v - 104w = 8.5a led
Though after all it's not the wattage of a Led Light unit that is key.
It's lumens which you then can calculate the comparison of incandescent/halogen to LED.
Then you forget about lumens (how bright the light is) and you focus on LUX (how much the light penitrates the darkness) :D
Angus242164
You don't need to get into all that to work out that LED's put out buttloads more light per watt than halogens.
Vee_Que
Your calculation is the same for a 100w globe jay for amperage.... I thought leds are meant to be lower wattage for more output?
deleted_user_160
Well you do need to get into all that to really understand what and how led work.
LED's are bright, ultra bright even in the various colors and color temps.
Though, brightness (lumens) isn't the issue here. LUX is, the greater the LUX value the greater the light penetration.
I have various led gloves at home and mani in similar wattage. Though a couple have a greater ability to penetrate the darkness. (Light travels further) that's the key trick to led.
Vee_Que
..... Ok. So I have led globes in my house, the same lux or brighter than the previous globes that were just normal filament. The led globe is 10w usage to compare with a 70w filament globe.
So the point is, you may have your maths and info wrong as the trucklite adr legal led headlights advertise to use less current. You are saying it uses More.
