BLDTruth

Steve83's supermotors page is required bookmarking for anyone who takes themselves seriously about figuring stuff out about their 80-96 Bronco/F150, in my humble opinion.

http://www.supermotors.net/registry/2742

It's the goddamn bible.

Steve83

That's surprising. Any time I've seen that warning light on, it STAYED on until an actual repair was made.Yeah, like I said - any brand can put out lemons occasionally. But the big names typically do so LESS-often than the house brands & no-names.I don't always disconnect the battery, but I'm used to working with live wires, and working on vehicles that can't necessarily tolerate the battery being disconnected (Land Rovers). These trucks can, so yes: that's the safest way to work. The alt has 2 mounting bolts on a 4.9L; 3 on a V8; and a nut on the battery (output) wire, in addition to 2 snap-in connectors.That's the infamous 2G, used ~'86~'92.


(phone app link)My Broncos & CV are built from probably 75% or more JY parts, including their alternators. The CV's coincidentally died a couple of days ago (after ~8 years), but I have a spare also from the JY that I'll swap on soon. (I've been driving on the battery, and recharging it each night.) It's VERY cost-effective for anyone who can bolt an alt. on, and has an hour or so to browse a local JY. The self-service JYs around here only charge ~$30 for any alt, so I always buy 130A 3Gs.


(phone app link)
It's always my signature link, so even if you don't save it, you can always get to it from any of my posts.

ericantonio

Just a quick update. Borrowed my son's Daewoo and I thought "hmmm, bet he never checks the oil". Was at Walmart so I decided to check his oil and needed like 2 quarts! Was dark, in a hurry to get my new glasses 4 miles away and on way there I had sinking feeling "hmmmmm, I think I forgot to put oil cap on". Got to Costco, yep, oil everywhere.


Got towed home, ready to check alternator and battery. Nope, my multimeter is reading ZERO on everything from AAA to 9V battery to car battery. Dang it, took out fuse and broken fuse. Got to Oreilly to get a fuse, no fuse that small. Need to buy oil and they said "oh man, our systems down, cash only". Hahah. What else?


Okay, I said, can you check battery and alternator? Sure. Great, good things going. And YEP, battery was fantastic cause it's new, turn on engine, and battery still at 12v.


Son can't wait a week for rockauto reman OE alternator so off to Napa today and pay more for a refurbished Napa or whatever for the time being.


Will disconnect wires thought, I'm not sure I'm brave enough to work with LIVE wires bro!!!

88xlt

I'm not sure what you mean. If you're talking about replacing the alternator, remove the negative battery cable from it's post before you start replacing the alternator and reattach it after you're done.

ericantonio

I was quoting Steve83 and his electronic antics

Steve83

12V is nothing - just a little tingle if you're really sweaty. Its only real danger is if you short a big cable (like the alt output) to ground - the flash can hurt your retinas, and the molten Copper can get down to the bone. It's those live 22KV wires that you have to be careful around!

I have a short section of heater hose that I slip over the cable end to keep it from shorting while I have the alt out. I used it last night while swapping the CV alt.

ericantonio

Oh man, been zapped too many times as a kid so I don't like electricity too much!!!

Hahaha. Anyway, went to Napa during my lunch, got a Napa refurb unit, they only had refurb, replaced Alt, started up, and battery is being charged right up!! No battery light. I'm sure that unit was starting to go a while a go cause once a while it would hesitate starting for like that extra 1/2 second. Too bad I didn't have time to get a reman OE Motorcraft one cause the one I just pulled out is a motorcraft and I'll have to bring back as core. Oh well. I don't have time to wait for a week for one.

Thanks for all your help guys!! I ALWAYS learn something good from you experienced guys!!!

Eric Fullerton

I keep hearing you say about other brands, they are all Motorcraft, they may be refurbed by whoever, but they are refurbed Motorcraft, that is what, unless someone is making a replacement with Ford mounts., fits and works.

Steve83

No, they're not all MotorCraft, and MotorCraft isn't actually OE. Read this:
https://www.f150forum.com/f2/motorcr...5/#post5617166