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Help, Charging System Warning Light came on

Big T

Big T

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The charging system warning light came on and stays on. The voltmeter is down at 12, when normally it's a 14.

I'm up at our second home in Big Bear Lake, which is now safe from Christopher Doner. The alternator is a 170 amp model and is only 2 years old and was bought new, not a reman. Serp belt is fine. What should I look for in the am? I have a multi meter, what should I test for and where?
 
Chances are the alternator quit on yeah. If the charge light is on, that means the alternator is getting fielded, but the regulator isn't sensing anything coming out of the stator. The higher amp units tend to fail pretty often, and is why I upgrade to the larger alternator to get extra amperage instead of going with the smaller units setup for extra amperage. Most likely the brushes have went on you or the stator.
 
I have the larger alternator. It's a 170 amp. Man have the prices gone up on those things!
 
Big T said:
I have the larger alternator. It's a 170 amp. Man have the prices gone up on those things!
Click to expand...

Is it a CS-130D or a CS144? The CS-130D is often built up as a 170 amp unit, but they tend to not last long at that output. The CS144 is a physically larger alternator, and the increased size also gives it more output with a longer life. If this is for your 99, then an AD244 is a drop in replacement with 145 amp output(and is known to run for a lONG time).
 
It's the larger CS-144.

Apparently my son had the larger CS-144 on the wrecked '95, so he's bringing that up in the AM.

Why does the AD 244 have a longer life than the CS-144?
 
Big T said:
It's the larger CS-144.

Apparently my son had the larger CS-144 on the wrecked '95, so he's bringing that up in the AM.

Why does the AD 244 have a longer life than the CS-144?
Click to expand...

The AD244 has a much longer lifespan over teh CS-130D, the CS-144 is a pretty good alternator with the exception of the rear bearing. Most all of the remans you get now use teh needle bearing for the rear bearing, and they fail. I lost 2 in my BURB with the 6.5 in under 20K miles. When I switched over to the DURAMAX I went with the AD244. And the CS144 uses a different plug than teh standard CS-130D that came on most GM's from 96+. The AD244 uses teh same plug as the CS-130D does.
 
I went to a CS 144 in my 94 K2500. I think it was for around a 97 or 98 Burb, and it had the same plug and clocking as my CS 130 (CS 130D?)did.

The front mount was the same, but I had to modify the rear mount due to the CS 144 being a physically larger alternator.

Don
 
Here's the alternator I pulled from my '99 this morning:

1360942909_zpsdc92f0de.jpg


1360943025_zps504b22a1.jpg


And here is the alternator from the wrecked '95 that my son is bringing up:

1360942945_zpsb27d3961.jpg


1360942954_zps7f415331.jpg


Two styles, both 170 amp. Which is which? Will the second one work on the '99? The first one has a squeak in it and only 25k miles on it.
 
The 1st one pictured looks like a AD244 from your picture, but I can't tell for certain. The CS144 will not directly replace it as they use different plugs. You'll have to put a different plug on, or get an adapter to plug it in. I would go down and pick up a regular 130 or 145 amp AD-244 for an 01 DURAMAX truck to replace it with. Don't know where you got that 170 amp unit, but the AD-244 normally runs for a LONG LONG time. GM uses that same basic alternator(different regulator in them now) on almost EVERYTHING they build now including vehicles that use electric assist power steering where they see high amp loads for long periods of time.

And the SC-130 was used up to 95, and the CS-130D came out in 96. The CS144 and CS-130 both use the same plugs, but the CS-130 uses a 1/4" charge lug whereas the CS-130D, AD230, AD244, and CS-144 all use a 5/16" lug. There is alot of confusion around the CS-130 and CS-130D as the CS-130D is a completely different alternator yet it uses a simliar designation.
 
Yeah the plugs are different. I got the first one from "start-it" which people have frequently linked in posts here. Per your advice, I'll get the Duramax AD244. Headed down the hill shortly.
 
OK, NAPA only had the AD-244 in 130 amp, reman with lifetime warranty for $129.99. That is what I got and I'm waiting for it to be delivered.

I know many here bag on the lifetime warranty AZ alternators. I'm probably getting the same from NAPA, but I followed the Advice here and went with new this last time and it lasted 25K miles, with no warranty. I'd rather have the lifetime warranty. It only takes minutes to pull and replace and I'm only out my time and mileage. That new one was worthless. Not even sure it had a warranty and if it did, I'd eat shipping costs and lost time to get it back to them. F that!
 
I can't even carry a spare alt and have it work when the main one quits... 25K is good life out of an alternator, great life is 100K, and outstanding is over 100K.

There is a reason there is a ton of them in stock just like starters...

Better and newer designs tend to sometimes last longer. Bad batteries and high modern loads tend to kill them over brush failures of the past units.
 
Got the KD-244 130 amp from NAPA. It's the same as the one in the first 2 photos above, except it has a lifetime warranty. Says "Delphi" on it. Got it installed and all is good. Wife plans to take it and the dogs out geocaching in the desert, whilst I head home to greet the 6.5 parts scavengers who are coming to visit. I'll have my son's '94 over on display as I install the two repaired injectors on the driver's side. The '99 will come home late in the day.
 
ADVANCE carries new alternators with lifetime warranty in the REMY brand. That's what I have in my BURB now with 40K miles on it. It was alot more money than the reman unit(cost me almost $240 in 09), but I wanted a new one with an actual warranty on it. As for remans they are all the same. I've bought em from ADVANCE, AUTOZONE, CARQUEST, and NAPA, and they are all the same things with a different sticker on them(all rebuilt in MEXICO).
 
THEFERMANATOR said:
ADVANCE carries new alternators with lifetime warranty in the REMY brand. That's what I have in my BURB now with 40K miles on it. It was alot more money than the reman unit(cost me almost $240 in 09), but I wanted a new one with an actual warranty on it. As for remans they are all the same. I've bought em from ADVANCE, AUTOZONE, CARQUEST, and NAPA, and they are all the same things with a different sticker on them(all rebuilt in MEXICO).
Click to expand...

IIRC I did buy a new Remy and it lasted 25K miles. Problem was that I ordered it on line, so the warranty is worthless when you need the alternator now. Now that my experience with the new Remy is worse than the remans (never had problems like this with the AZ alternators), I'm going with the remans with lifetime warranty and local availability.
 
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