Alt replacement

[astrozam]

Bearings went on my Alt today as I was going to work, the noise had been getting worse all week and I knew it was only a matter of time before D day, thankfully my pops was able to grab me a reman and bring it out to where I work ( He's the best ) got it changed out and thankfully the weather co-operated nicely.
Now the real reason I mention this is that on the way home I could not believe the smooth acceleration and power that my engine had, it was as if someone slapped a v8 in there. I no longer had any stutters/hesitation/poor acceleration. I know many members have mentioned having poor performance pulling hills etc etc... and that they had thrown different parts ( typical tune-up stuff or a new Cat) at their vans trying to get them to run better, well if its been some time since your last ALT replacement and you just can't seem to get it running smooth you may just want to look at a possible ALT replacement, I'm not going to gaurantee this will solve the problem buts its something to be aware of.

[crash]

good to hear zam. any noticable readings on your gauge before vs after ?

the general performance improvment on my 99 was very noticeable when the coil was changed (after it died). smooth idle, smooth acceleration, more power etc

[Smiliesafari]

With all of the electronics in the newer cars it's just as important to keep that system tuned up as well.

[astrozam]

good to hear zam. any noticable readings on your gauge before vs after ?

the general performance improvment on my 99 was very noticeable when the coil was changed (after it died). smooth idle, smooth acceleration, more power etc

Thats the funny thing Rob, my gauge showed the same around 13.5v before I changed it out and shows the same now, other than the loud bearing noise there was no indication that the ALT was ready to go.

[kings-x59]

might be that the amperage output was low. I had an old alternator check out A-OK on voltage output that would not charge the battery. Went round and round with that one. After the new batter started to get sucked "dry" I knew it had to be the alternator. Parts guy thought I was nuts, but a rebuilt alternator solved the problem.

[cd0156]

I had my alternator go in Islamirada around midnight on a Saturday, we were staying in Key Largo, and I had to be at work on Monday.. I had no tools with me and if there were any indication it was going we would have taken another vehicle. I never had any issues at all before, voltage was fine, no battery issues, hard starts or anything. We were driving down the road (as we were all day, ft myers to key west, back to Largo, then back to Islamirada) and suddenly the lights started going dim.. We made it back to Largo for the night, got a new alt at Advance and the girl there let me use her tools to swap it in the parking lot.. No problems since... Very odd how sudden it was.. We were glad it did not happen the next day though! Around 11 pm on a Sunday in the middle of the Everglades with no cell service would have REALLY sucked.. I don't think we passed another car until naples!

[SoCalli V8]

You could also upgrade the red alternator charging wire to a 4 or 6 guage (fat) wire with soldered terminals at each end and shrinkwrap covers. Upgrade your ground cables also with 2 or 4 guage and soldered end terminals, this will make your van run better and all your lights brighter. Always clean back to bare metal grounding positions and cover with a smear of dialectric silicon grease.

[SoCalli V8]

I also upgraded to a 140 amp HD alternator, and a HD flex fan from a `93 Caprice Cop-Car.

I tell ya.... > find a `91-`93 Caprice 5.7 Cop-Car or Taxi, and swap All the drivetrain over to your Astro.