OutlawMike

After the winch and the lights and with plans for an inverter and an amp for the stereo, I have been wanting to do a high output alternator upgrade to my '89 4Runner V6. I did not want to modify brackets or bolt in a Chevy alternator. I wanted to replace the stock unit with a higher output version of the same thing.

I did a lot of searching here on Yotatech and out on the web. I found three options that looked promising: Boyle Future Technologies, Grand Rebuilders, and Automotive Exchange and Supply. All are in California.

I had read of some packaging/shipping issues with Boyle, and one Yotatecher had a Grand Rebuilders alternator go bad on him and had to return it. So, I decided to get an AES in San Diego. They did not charge me a core, I kept my stock, 139k miles alternator as a backup. Contact info:

Automotive Exchange and Supply (AES)
Contact: Mark
4354 Twain Ave. Unit 1
San Diego, CA 92120
United States
ph: 619-282-3207 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting619-282-3207end_of_the_skype_highlighting
fax: 619-282-1563

The e-mail on their website does not work.


I called Mark at AES, he was very helpful, answered all of my questions. Said that he could have a 140 amp alternator out to me the next day for $140 plus tax and shipping. Total charge on my card was $152.25.

Pics below of the box, packaging, and the alternator. I got a good laugh out of the bikini girl packaging material. My wife shook her head, and my 3 year old wanted to know why the lady was standing there in her underwear.

Oh, and the pulley on this alternator is 3 mm smaller in diameter (on the ribs) than my stock alternator (56 mm versus 59 mm). It should spin 5% faster at any given engine RPM.

Box:



Alternator:







Mounting it in was the easy part. I pulled the airbox out of the Runner, and mounted it:




Mark was emphatic that I absolutely had to upgrade the charge wire to #2 and all of the grounds to at least #4 for this to work. So, I took a trip down to the welding supply shop and picked up 10 feet of #2 wire for the charge wire. This stuff is quality wire, very fine strands, super flexible, $2.75/foot. I ended up only using six feet of it for how I finally routed it. I bought a couple #4 battery cables at Kragen for the grounds (4x) and upgraded all of them also.








I routed it in front of the radiator, zip tied to the stock harness in that location. I ran the charge wire to the auxiliary post on my Odyssey battery, the same post that my winch wire feeds off of (it is not anywhere close to the fan, just looks that way in the picture):






Then, started it up, took it for a test drive, and measured the voltage at idle (700 RPM) 14.45 Volts at the battery at idle in gear (automatic trans). The alternator is charging at idle, which was on concern I had, I did not want it dropping out on me at idle in gear.

So, as of right now, success, works great. I have to take Mark's word on the output, as I could not find anyone around Santa Rosa who could test the alternator and tell me output at idle and at RPM. When I talked to Mark after it was delivered I asked him if he had any documentation for the output. He said that he normally does not send anything along but that mine had a hot stator and was putting out above 140 amps when tested. Still, I would like to have it tested by another shop at some point, just to verify the output. My understanding is that the industry spec for output is at 6000 RPM (alternator), which, depending on your pulley sizes, is around 2k engine RPM.