I am having my alternator rebuilt for my D2 and was wanting a little more juice while it is out. I have a guy that can rebuild them and he has a good rep, uses good parts, and says he can knock this out after he orders the parts. I was wondering if anyone on here can give me some advice on what to look for and what questions I should be asking him when I take it to him tomorrow. Im not sure he has done a LR Alternator before but Im assuming they arent that much different than any others but correct me if I am wrong. Thanks for any advice!
Jay

 

you can increase the alternator output in amps if you remove some of the windings, the downside to this is you mess with the consistency of the voltage which can cause other problems like damaging the battery, you are right for the most part, an alternator is an alternator and short of different size pulleys, mounting brackets and the current output they are all pretty much the same. I remember years ago I found a company that would sell universal High Output alternators and then sell vehicle specific brackets to mount each one (or make you a bracket if they didn't have one) but they are pretty expensive around $400- $500 to start if I remember correctly. these would be a more "professional" version of what your rebuild shop would be able to do as for pulling the windings out. But I would ask him, I am sure it is not the first time he has heard the question before (I have had many people ask me about this in the stereo world). If he thinks it is a bad idea he will tell you, or if it may be risky, how risky.

 

Thanks Rover Chris. I was also meaning to ask what this should cost. How much have other people paid to have theirs rebuilt?

 

that I can't tell you, I have repaired the rectifier bridges for myself a few times on older vehicles, but I have no idea what that cost for parts or what a shop would charge to do it.

 

Bosch alternators are hard enough to rebuild, if you are not happy with the 130 amp set up go order a Mean Green alternator that is built from the ground up with extra amps.
How much of an increase are you looking for and why?

 

I am going to second Mike on this one if you are willing to put the money into it I would upgrade to a professional HO alternator (I am not familiar with the one he mentioned but there are many companies out there that make them) with the electronics in today's vehicles being more sensitive you should probably aim for a more stable alternator than a modified original. You can still ask your guy about it but you may be playing with fire on that one. It was alot more common when cars didn't have airbags and OBDII computer systems in them but now all of those electronics require a pretty steady power stream, and modifying an alternator can cause fluctuations.

 

Ok I will prob just stick with the stock amps. I was just going to upgrade since it was already out and getting fixed. I plan on having a dual bat set up at some point and figured a little more amps wouldn't hurt. I don't want to buy a new one because of $ constraints but maybe that will be an upgrade for the future. Thanks for the replies!
Jay

 

130 amps is MORE than you will ever need!!

 

UP you are prob right but here in 'merica more is better! Hell Im thinking of going to a dual dipstick setup with a secondary, rear radiator!