CS144 Fail! I limped home.

[calimobber]

Well I was about 12 hours into my 13hr drive and I started getting a few battery light flashes. I looked and my volts were jumping around from 11.5v then back up to 14.4v.

I pulled over and checked the regulator connection but everything seemed fine. I started the car and it seemed to be working again so I ignored. It started doing it again when I got close to the house. I figured id look into it the next day.

Next day I drove a mile down the street and alternator was not charging at all. Decided to check the battery posts. Sure enough some had worked themselves loose. Car seemed back to normal and working good.

next day I started my 13hr drive home and about 1hr into it the alternator stopped charging completely. So I pulled over in the rain to check again and was shocked to see the alternator charging bolt had worked itself loose and it fell out the back of the alternator.

luckily I was able to McGiver the thing and push the bolt back in and then pull tension on the wire locking the bolt in and zip tying it. This seemed to work fine and I only had to fix it a few times on my 13hr drive home but I made it back. Stock alternator is going back in today for now.

 

[gamefreakgc]

Wow, that's really unfortunate. I'm only 1 year on mine and so far so good but that just means it's still covered by the warranty

 

[nissanh]

Installing CS144 is not an upgrade!

Now, you got an unreliable toyota.

 

[kolelt]

I had the same happen. On my 3rd alternator. So far so good. The OEM definitely is better. But running a amp, subwoofer, accessories this alternator upgrade is great. Bumping music, and running accessories, I experience zero voltage fluctuation. If you want to spend big bugs. You can a oem alternator built to cs144 spec. Or you can buy a denso cs144. Pretty sure denso makes one.

 

[DaMonkey]

I think it’s worthwhile clarifying the manufacturer. I did the swap because I needed the juice end it has been great with a new AC Delco unit. Really made a nice difference, super happy with it. I Won’t buy a rebuilt alternator or a house brand. Rebuilt alternators can be great, but I Prefer to rebuild myself on a unit that I bought new from a good manufacturer. It’s possible the previous owner put the power log on with an impact LOL

 

[calimobber]

Its Fixed. Mine was a Denso so good quality. The nut just backed out. Its been at least 50k miles so Its been good so far.

It was a pretty easy fix all together. I just removed it and unscrewed 4 bolts. The whole alternator slides apart and I found the nut stuck to the magnets inside. I put some lock tight on it and snugged everything down.

Seems to be good as new :biggrin2: