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CS144 Alternator Upgrade

Booba5185 said:
I've done the same upgrade, up to 200a with a 1.9 inch pulley. It is very easy to install, and can be done really cheap. I wasn't sure about that adapter from alternatorparts.com for 2 reasons. One, I have the Gen V so I don't know exactly where it would place the alternator on the bracket. I already had to do some grinding to fit it, and I have about 1 or 2mm between the supercharger and the alternator as it is. Two, I was screwed over by the owner. He was very helpful wish diagnosing problems and giving me troubleshooting instructions...until his rectifier was the result of his own troubleshooting. He stopped answering my calls, and said he doesn't warranty any parts unless he installs them. From there I sourced a new rectifier from ebay, for cheaper, and look identical to the alternatorparts' rectifier.

On top of that, like you mentioned the adapter is damn near the same price as a new tensioner. I have a little mini write-up on the 200a upgrade in my build thread, let me go find it and post it in here...
Click to expand...

Now that you mention it, I think I also had a bad experience with alternatorparts.com. I remember that when I did my write-up, I purposely tried to avoid having any links to parts on their site if I could because I didn’t want to do any free advertising for them. lol

I agree that it is probably not the best course to use that adapter. I just threw that out there for someone in case they are really stuck on not swapping brackets for some reason and wanted some ideas. I guess someone may also have the tools and knowhow to fab their own adapter based on the picture. However, I really don’t see why anyone wouldn’t just do what you did and change alternator bracket since it is so easy, cheap, and proven to work. As you said, the price is nearly as much as the new alternator bracket/tensioner anyway.

For people like me that have the earlier bracket already installed, going to the CS144 is a no-brainer. And for someone with the later bracket, just change it out and as an added bonus you get easier access to the rear valve cover.

Those are good pics showing the steps to open up the CS144 and upgrade it. I used a YouTube video back when I did mine. If anyone is in the same situation as I was, and never has been inside an alternator before, rest easy because it is really simple to work on as shown above. I was surprised at how easy it all was. One of the great things about the CS144 being a breeze to work on and the upgrade parts fairly easy to find is that you can upgrade it on the “installment plan” like I did. First put it in stock. If that isn’t enough, try the overdrive pulley. If that still isn’t enough, upgrade the stator and bridge rectifier.

I have to believe there is just one place in China, or Mexico, or wherever making the CS144 upgrade parts. There can’t be a huge market for them. I doubt it matters what seller you buy them from as I bet they are all the same parts in the end. It’s probably best just to find the cheapest reputable seller you can.

I haven’t heard about the G/H body thermistor before. That sounds like it would be a nice addition to the swap. Someone should give that a try and post up their experience.
 


I'm ready to if I could find part numbers and such. I haven't looked to far into it though. Once it cools back off for winter (and I can't work on the car outside anymore) I'll be building an external rectifier set up as well. It might get me a bit more output, but it'll be cleaner power and redundancy...and a nifty little side project.

IIRC the rectifier I bought off ebay was identical to the one I got from AP.com, except for the fact it worked of course. Same model number on the hardware, same everything.
 
The voltage regulators are already set at 14.7v, I don't see why anyone would want 15.4v all the time. The Thermister is one thing since it is based on temperature, but all the time would be a bit much. Some of the really beefy system guys or the guys that want a **** ton of voltage for their fuel pumps could do it on a switch or even install a potentiometer on the sense line.
 
So I don't know if this will work with the 05+ Grand Prix because of the stupid current sensor and how the regulator is run off of a PWM signal...anyone know about this at all?
 
I'll take a look at my alternators do the 130 and 144 share the same regulator setup? I can rig up an alternator test stand and a PWM circuit and see if it responds but it will probably be after the next week or 2. I'll see if I can setup to read my field wire.

Jeff

edit: looks like I have a 130D laying around.
 
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Factory plug will not fit, if it only had 1 wire then it won't have the sense wire. If you want you can add it, but it's not required. Yep, that's the right bracket.
 
Yeah. That will work. James pointed out a good detail. The 97-98 brackets have the coolant elbow as part of the bracket. So of it breaks it can not only ruin your bracket but also your timing cover.

i had to switch to a early model bracket / tensioner setup to use my older alternator. I also picked the camaro set up. Only issue I have not fixed yet is the heater hose couplers. I will be making a "L" shaped bracket to hold them in place.
 
I dunno if you have or not, but you need better charge wires, and a better ground would help, too. Nice thing is the CS144 has a spot to ground right on the back of it, which is RIGHT behind the bridge rectifier. I'm working on going to full 1\0 AWG, but my local car audio shop ran out of it so I only was able to make the charge wire for now:


 


Crazyguy03 said:
Yeah. That will work. James pointed out a good detail. The 97-98 brackets have the coolant elbow as part of the bracket. So of it breaks it can not only ruin your bracket but also your timing cover.

i had to switch to a early model bracket / tensioner setup to use my older alternator. I also picked the camaro set up. Only issue I have not fixed yet is the heater hose couplers. I will be making a "L" shaped bracket to hold them in place.
Click to expand...
That's what I did. Wasn't that hard:


I also mentioned the 99 Camaro bracket in the OP, and I showed what the other bracket breaks if used.
 
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I have the factory wire and the 1\0 AWG wire, the black pre-made wire is the ground I was talking about. It will get 1\0 AWG soon, once they get 1\0 AWG back in stock. I know I could get it cheaper online, but my cousin owns the shop and I like to support local shops and such.
 


Worked for me it's not the prettiest and I just used what I had on hand and didnt feel like running downtown the hardware store for some angle steel.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 


The Camaro bracket has 2 removable elbows, it's the one you want:
Alternator bracket out of a 99 Camaro 3.8l. It may be available in other vehicles, but Rockauto has conflicting information on it. (optional on 97-98 Grand Prix)
Now a 97-98 Grand Prix alternator bracket will work, but the coolant elbow that goes into the timing cover is cast into the bracket so it can break the timing cover on removal. This is the 97-98 Grand Prix bracket:
large.JPG

Here's what it can do:

Here's the Camaro bracket:
main.JPG


Pay attention to the heater hose angles, they can be 180* or 90* make sure you get the same angle you currently have (180*). Not all of the fittings bolt on the same way, as you can see in my picture of the installed bracket:
Click to expand...
 
OK, cool. I just got confused when you said "I also mentioned the 99 Camaro bracket in the OP, showing what it breaks if used." Sounded like you were saying the opposite.

Thinknim sorted now. Thanks.
 
Sorry if my post confused you. It's the 97-98 regal bracket that has 1 elbow. The camaro set up like shown above gives you both removable elbows.

The one I purchased from advanced auto came with 2 new elbows. No couplers though. Plus after 30% discount it was cheaper then Amazon. Plus same day pickup.
 
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