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Replacement Alternator

jlisler

Well Known Member
Shortly after departing for the Sun and Fun Fly-In Saturday morning, the Van's 35 amp alternator in my RV-4 failed after 260 hours of service. After landing I found that the alternator was completely locked up and the belt had burned up. I never smelled the belt burning as it slipped on the alternator pulley. When disassembled, the rear bearing was found to be completely destroyed. Both the inner and outer races were loose in the case and all the little ball bearings had fallen out. The rear case was wiped out and the rotor had contacted the stator. I cannot locate a like replacement due to the age of the alternator. After all it was for a 1976-79 Honda Civic CVCC without air conditioning . Rather than chase this I have decided to replace the alternator with either a B&C or Plane Power unit. Since the Honda alternator uses an external regulator, it looks like the B&C 40 amp unit would be a direct replacement as it is also setup for an external regulator. However, the plane Power 60 amp alternator is somewhat cheaper and more powerful. The down side is it has an internal regulator and will require re-wiring my electrical system to accept this. What are the pros and cons of these two systems? Are both units comparable in quality? Each of these cost about 10 times what the original alternator did so I am looking for the best bang for the buck.
 
The original 35a alternator that Vans sold for years is a NipponDenso as used on 1976-1979 Honda Civic CVCC without air conditioning. A common number you can find in Duralast and other reman alternators is 14184. I got one at Autozone. They ordered it and it was in the store within about 2 days.
 
If you do a search for "Lester" here in the forums, you will find a bunch of threads that can help you find a replacement for what you currently have. Lots of references to various vehicles that used the same unit. A "Lester #14684" is the replacement ND alternator (internally regulated) for the van's 60 Amp. Rewiring to an internally regulated unit is not really that hard, and the biggest benefit is that if you have another toasted alternator, you can pick one up at just about any auto parts store. I only bring this up since your last sentence implied that cost is at least a partial factor...

Paul
 
Shortly after departing for the Sun and Fun Fly-In Saturday morning, the Van's 35 amp alternator in my RV-4 failed after 260 hours of service. After landing I found that the alternator was completely locked up and the belt had burned up. I never smelled the belt burning as it slipped on the alternator pulley. When disassembled, the rear bearing was found to be completely destroyed. Both the inner and outer races were loose in the case and all the little ball bearings had fallen out. The rear case was wiped out and the rotor had contacted the stator. I cannot locate a like replacement due to the age of the alternator. After all it was for a 1976-79 Honda Civic CVCC without air conditioning . Rather than chase this I have decided to replace the alternator with either a B&C or Plane Power unit. Since the Honda alternator uses an external regulator, it looks like the B&C 40 amp unit would be a direct replacement as it is also setup for an external regulator. However, the plane Power 60 amp alternator is somewhat cheaper and more powerful. The down side is it has an internal regulator and will require re-wiring my electrical system to accept this. What are the pros and cons of these two systems? Are both units comparable in quality? Each of these cost about 10 times what the original alternator did so I am looking for the best bang for the buck.

Jerry, I have TWO of these alternators. One from Vans and one from NAPA Autoparts. Both are rebuilt units and never have been installed. I have two bracket sets also. You can have them for $75.00 plus shipping if this will help you.

Warren
 
... The down side is it has an internal regulator and will require re-wiring my electrical system to accept this. . . .

Wiring up to the internal from you external should be pretty easy,jut jumper the external regulator input to the output and you should be ready to go.

BTW, I wish I could have gotten off to go to sun n fun. You must have went down for the day.
 
Warren, did you sell both alternators or do you have one set of brackets left? Thanks

All of the stuff is gone. But you can get the steel alt. brackets from Van's and the civic alternator from Napa or any auto parts.


But if electricity is really important in your a/c, then I would go with Plane Power.
 
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