Sigh...which CS144 alternator for the upgrade?

[Lindenwood]

Hello, everyone!

While I have been out of town, my wife did an awesome bit of legwork finding me a great single-owner 2002 SR5! I will be home in a few weeks, and have been collecting parts for my build.

I will be doing the CS144 upgrade when I get home in a few week to support a winch and ~60Amp compressor, and wanted to make sure I got a good product. I know to find one that fits a 1995 Deville, but there are so many brands, I have no idea which ones are actually of good quality. The internet is riddled with anecdotes of "I went through 5 [Auto Parts Store] alternators in 3 hours," but just as many who have gone 10 years on $4 parts-bin products! Of course, I am exaggerating a bit, but that seems to be about the range of experiences.

I am a pretty frugal guy, but saving $50 or even $100 on a cheap remanufactured alternator from my local parts store, even with their common lifetime warranties, won't do me any good if it fails in the middle of the Moab. I know the CS144 is a pretty well-designed alternator when it is built with good guts, so I want to make sure I get the right one.

Here is an example I found, but does anyone have any specific recommendations?

More Information for ACDELCO 3351048

Thanks!

 

[19963.4lsr5]

To me all you can do is buy one with a life time warranty or go junking and pull one and rebuild it yourself or find a local rebuilder


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[97Run-Man]

I did this and used a Duralast Gold. It's new not reman and has a lifetime warranty. I haven't had an issue with it.
They were designed to be run on much more powerful V8's, and I just don't think our little V6 is gonna hurt it so I didn't see the reasoning to spend a ton on an OEM one.
The one thing I suggest is getting the wire harness adapter. That way you aren't cutting and splicing anything. Just plug and go.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[3bears]

I was going to do this upgrade .I got mine on amazon, a new one, AC/Delco it was about 110 at the time. the harness I had to get off ebay

so I can not speak on the life of these, its been on my shelf for almost a year. At the time I was planning to do a winch, in the future, and I was having charging problems so figured why not do the big alternator now. I did not find the bad wire until I started digging in to replace the alternator.
Instead my charging issue was a bad wire, and I have since decided not to do a winch and then one day Ill think.... I will do a winch and put in an airlocker on too.

so when my alternator does go out, or even hints of going out, that will be when I do the CS 144. until then it will sit on the shelf

when you go this route, you might consider doing the big 3 wire upgrade too. There are plenty of write ups on that, as well as kits, I did mine without a kit

 

[Lindenwood]

Ah, yes I have acturally already ordered a pigtail adapter, and do plan on upgrading the wiring at the same time!

I have an Advance Auto along my commute and only a few miles from home. They offer random brands like "Carquest" and "Driveworks" for as little $100, and Bosch remans for $265. Other than Bosch being a generally more widely-respected brand, does anyone have a guess as to the fundamental differences between all the different alternators?

I just read an anecdote that big remanufacturers disassemble old alternators and separate all the like parts into bins. Then, they test part after part, and then simply reassemble new alternators with a set of parts that all test good in their plant / shop. So, you could get one that will last for 100k miles or 3k miles before its weakest used part fails.

I also keep reading more and more anecdotes about having to go through multiple alternators before finding a good one. And, hilariously enough, I just remembered an experience like this with my old MR2 about 10 years ago. I bought an alternator from Oriellys, probably the cheapest model they had, installed it, and it wouldnt charge. Took it back and it failed their test, so they replaced it (and tested it the new one as well) and after install I was GTG.

Any brands known to be more or less likely to have such issues?

 

[Mark_BC]

I wonder if it's a matter of keeping a spare with you so if yours breaks you just swap it out. That would take away a lot of the worry. Never replaced one before so I don't know how easy this would be trail-side.

 

[Roamed YT]

Delco, Denso, and if you have to, Bosch.

I recall a time when I had more new Bosch starters and alternators coming back than anyone else.

Reman Delco will run 'ya $124 on the 'Rock, a Denso is $140.

I'd put my money on a Delco myself.

 

[Lindenwood]

Delco, Denso, and if you have to, Bosch.

I recall a time when I had more new Bosch starters and alternators coming back than anyone else.

Reman Delco will run 'ya $124 on the 'Rock, a Denso is $140.

I'd put my money on a Delco myself.

Thank! Also, Advance does offer a remaned Denso for $265... not sure why it is so much more than Rock Auto.

Are you talking about the AC Delco part below?
ACDELCO 3351049
(1995 Deville 4.6L w/o windshield heat, $123.79, new).

 

[Lindenwood]

Actually, based on the prices you listed it sounds like this one is what you meant, for a 1995 Fleetwood 5.7L. Is that correct?

3342401A

 

[Lindenwood]

I ordered that one. Did some digging about the brands and reman process. To be honest, I am not terribly confident in the quality of any alternator below the $400 custom high-output models built by small companies. But, I know most people seem content enough with these "working man's" reman options that they can't be that bad, right?

 

[Badmotorfinger]

After researching I decided to just go with a reman. Got tired of researching. Happy so far. Install was very easy, use a chainsaw file to enlarge the hole on the starter wire.

 

[Roamed YT]

Actually, based on the prices you listed it sounds like this one is what you meant, for a 1995 Fleetwood 5.7L. Is that correct?

3342401A

That's the one I did mention. Most of the reman is done in Mexico now, lower-end brands are moving to China.

That design is so old though it's been refined and refined and refined.. I'm sure they're all fairly robust by now.

 

[Trip_84]

Im just about ready to buy a winch and have a little arb generator on the way. Do i need to upgrade my alternator as well? Or is that just a preference thing?

Thanks

 

[Ritchie]

After researching I decided to just go with a reman. Got tired of researching. Happy so far. Install was very easy, use a chainsaw file to enlarge the hole on the starter wire.

Badmotorfinger,
I have been this route and went through 2 over 2 years. Neither provided enough amperage at idle to keep up with my ARB twin compressor.
Also, be sure to use the GM specs in setting belt tension. You could smoke a bearing.

Finally went with a 160 amp piece from LCE and all is great. Puts out more amperage at idle to keep the 'twins' happy.

Good luck OP.

 

[JayRolla]

OEM GM would give me piece of mind. One had 3 failures in one year with duracrap.

 

[psea17]

For the life of me, I can't this cs144 to fit in my 98 4run! Did you guys have to do anything to the lower bracket or the shield that's just under the valve cover? uhg!

this is the one I bought: Advance Auto Parts - Down for Maintenance

 

[DoctorPopcorn]

For the life of me, I can't this cs144 to fit in my 98 4run! Did you guys have to do anything to the lower bracket or the shield that's just under the valve cover? uhg!

this is the one I bought: Advance Auto Parts - Down for Maintenance

Hey psea, did you ever get this figured? I'm having this same issue right now on my '98 Limited. I won a CS144 from what looks to be a '95 Roadmaster on eBay. I bought the GM to 'yota adapter, and have the battery ring drilled out and mounted. I got the top mounting bolt in (not spaced yet), but as it sits, it looks like there is no way the bottom mounting hole will have any adjustment when I put the tensioner bolt in. Just like you said, it seems like the bottom tensioner mounting bracket needs to move. I'll mess with it more tonight, and I'll probably have to bring out a 40 oz bloody mary mug with me.

Doing this, I figured I might as well use the new spare belts laying around, and broke off the PS & AC tensioner bolt heads, so I've got the pleasure of mitigating those, too. The blood, sweat, and tears are always worth it, though...

 

[4RunnerSega]

My apologies if this is going to be a repetitive subject, but after reading everything that I could find on an alternator upgrade for the 3rd gen 4Runners, it seems that there are 2 alternators that will work? The ACDELCO 3351049 and the CS-144? Did I understand that correctly? Or are those 2 the same alternator?
I stopped by Advance Auto Parts near my house and they have the ACDELCO 3351049 for $200 even plus tax, so I think I want to go that route, unless I got something wrong.
Plz somebody help.
TIA.

 

[Bad Luck]

My apologies if this is going to be a repetitive subject, but after reading everything that I could find on an alternator upgrade for the 3rd gen 4Runners, it seems that there are 2 alternators that will work? The ACDELCO 3351049 and the CS-144? Did I understand that correctly? Or are those 2 the same alternator?
I stopped by Advance Auto Parts near my house and they have the ACDELCO 3351049 for $200 even plus tax, so I think I want to go that route, unless I got something wrong.
Plz somebody help.
TIA.

The ac delco part number listed is part of the CS-144 family of alternators. If you can wait on shipping rockauto has one for $120 plus $10 shipping ACDELCO 3351049 Alternator / Generator | RockAuto

 

[psea17]

Hey psea, did you ever get this figured? I'm having this same issue right now on my '98 Limited. I won a CS144 from what looks to be a '95 Roadmaster on eBay. I bought the GM to 'yota adapter, and have the battery ring drilled out and mounted. I got the top mounting bolt in (not spaced yet), but as it sits, it looks like there is no way the bottom mounting hole will have any adjustment when I put the tensioner bolt in. Just like you said, it seems like the bottom tensioner mounting bracket needs to move. I'll mess with it more tonight, and I'll probably have to bring out a 40 oz bloody mary mug with me.

Doing this, I figured I might as well use the new spare belts laying around, and broke off the PS & AC tensioner bolt heads, so I've got the pleasure of mitigating those, too. The blood, sweat, and tears are always worth it, though...

so sorry not to have responded earlier. had no idea there was a thread response. yes, I got mine to fit. iirc, I had to loosen the tensioner mount to slide it in. used a power steering belt instead. has been working wondefully well.