[hugz]

Well, my sierra has found itself with a flat battery. It looks like both the battery and the alternator are getting a bit old .

Being a zook owner, I want to take this as an opportunity to upgrade, but I also want to be cheap

Firstly: i've done some research and it looks like adding a EF/EL fairmont alternator is the go as far as upgrades. It's 100amp vs 45(ish?) of the stock alternator and should be cheaper to source. Does anyone have any opinions on this before I go out spending money on it. A friend suggested a magna alternator also. My only real concern here is whether it will survive water

Secondly: I'm also considering going dual battery just for the extra safety factor. Honestly I dont have a lot of external things to power (no real stereo system, no winch, no fridge. I do have spotties but that's all), but I like the idea of having one battery go flat but still being able to crank my car. For someone like me is this just a waste of money? I will be getting air lockers shortly, so I will have a compressor to power.

Thirdly: If I was to get dual batteries, where's the best place to mount them considering that I will also have a compressor to mount. Will it all fit cozy under the engine bay? Any pictures of dual battery setups would be appreciated

Apologies if this has been covered previously. I did search and pulled up various pieces of information, but I'm keen to hear opinions on the above, and particuarly the combination of the three (falcon alternator, dual batteries & compressor)

[Hybrid]

Just go the falcon alternator. It's tried and proven and theres plenty of info on mounting them up. I've done one myself and it was pretty much just spanner work. If you do end up going the falcon one I'll swap you my single v alternator pulley for the multi-v on the flacon one. I need the multi v pulley for my 1.6L engine. (I may be biased in pushing you to the falcon alt as I really need a multi-v pulley )

[smileysmoke]

i have two falcon ones here.. one is going on the other i can try rip the multi v pulley off for ya hybrid. can post to ya as well . paid about 50 ea for the alts.
pm me mate

[Hybrid]

Champion! PM Coming

[Scrawny]

Are you selling the other alternator smileysmoke? I've been thinking about doing this upgrade for a while

[Brett]

with the ford alternator make sure you get the 110 amp as the 100 doesn't fit.

as for duel batterys after you pay for a battery, solanoid and wiring you might as weel go a gell optamia battery (spelt wrong i think, to many beers) that has the deep cycle and normaly battery in one. then you just put it where yours is now and wire anything that is 12 v to the extra posts on the battery. they are lighter and take a flogging!

[hugz]

Thanks for the advice.

I think i've decided to just go one battery for now. Frankly my car needs 31s and lockers before I should spend any money on little bonuses like dual batteries.

did smileysmoke steal my pulley?

[Hybrid]

Not yet, He hasn't got back to my PM yet lol

[smileysmoke]

hehe poop.
scrawnc i have the other alternator if you want it. pm me mate.
im easy

[Scrawny]

smileysmoke wrote:

im easy

Probably the wrong forum to be advertising that?

[hugz]

smileysmoke wrote:

hehe poop.
scrawnc i have the other alternator if you want it. pm me mate.
im easy

if one of the alternators is for sale i'd be keen to pick it up

cheers

[smileysmoke]

haha i just get it out there scrawn oh wait thats a bad one as welll.. shite

yeh i am in wa though so no pick up

[ferals_m38]

ive got a 120Amp Bosch alt (ex commodore cop car) sitting on the bench here...and ive already played with the idea of mounting that in the mutant that im cobbling together so i can run extra lights and the bigazz hunting spot ive got...

anything i should consider with this conversion except making my own brackets?

[hugz]

went to the wreckers on saturday and yanked a 110amp unit out of a fairmont EL. It came out with a little work but would've been far easier if we brought a ratcheting spanner and screwdrivers.

It looks as though it'll bolt straight onto the sierra bracket, but in the end we didn't do the swap because i have no idea where to get a suitable pulley for it? Does anyone have any tips? I might get the sierra pulley machined out to make it fit onto the falcon alternator with some spacers.. but i'd rather not if there's an easier swap.

anyway, in the end I realised that I had a spare sierra alternator lying around that chinny from this forum gave me. We swapped that in and I'm back up and running. So after all of that, I'm not running dual batteries OR an upgraded alternator! I'll try get the falcon alternator in for fun sometime anyway though

Notes:
- The fairmont unit is 110amp, the falcon 100amp. Guys on outers said that you have to use the 110amp unit, but they LOOK much the same to me. Its got a "ford" stamp on the top but a "mitsubishi" stamp on the back
- I paid $38 for it from the wreckers and they said if i return my old alternator they'll refund $10
- The stock sierra alternator can be swapped without removing anything else, but it is a little fiddly. As the falcon alternator is bigger you may have to remove the sierra radiator to get to it.

[tails83]

what wreckers yo get the alternater from, i'm looking at doing this but don't wanna spend much, $28 would be good for me.

[hugz]

tails83 wrote:

what wreckers yo get the alternater from, i'm looking at doing this but don't wanna spend much, $28 would be good for me.

I got it from ABC spare parts at Wacol, but frankly i couldn't guarantee that you'd find one if you went this weekend. Alternators seem to go pretty fast so its just luck of the draw if you find a car with one still inside. The wreckers at Wacol is self service (ie you have to pull the part out of the car yourself) whereas many other wreckers keep parts like alternators on the shelf

http://www.abcspareparts.com/

edit: I only have the net at work, but if i can get around to it i'll try copy down the part number to make it easier to find.. when i called up a wrecker to ask if they had it on the shelf they could only help me if i had the part number

[zuki]

Brett wrote:

with the ford alternator make sure you get the 110 amp as the 100 doesn't fit.

Brett,
Could you let me know why the 100amp won't fit as the one I have is a Mitsubishi with the ford stickers on body.

Cheers
David

[Mike]

the brackets have to be modifed to fit the 100amp one and i think oy have to make a pulley spacer so everything lines up properly

[Brett]

the one i had the pully was way out of line. the 110 amp the pully is closer to the alt so lines up better.

[zuki]

Brett wrote:

the one i had the pully was way out of line. the 110 amp the pully is closer to the alt so lines up better.

Brett,
Thanks for that, the one I have is similar alt with the pulley close to housing. But the one I have is clearly marked 100amp.

Cheers
David

[tails83]

hey guys, so if the alt comes with a multi rib pully then in thery the 110 amp should bolt straight into a vitara with no mods to the pulley.