Interstate alternator

[Paul Carver]

Is there anyone out there that has not received a good alternator from the certified mechanic in Indiana? I keep hearing that it is very possible to end up with one that is worse than what I already have. I have not had any problems yet but I am thinking about beating the inevitable. I have about 109,000 on my Valk now. Thanks for any responses.

[eric in md]

who you talking about?

[3W-lonerider]

i bought one of his H.O. altenators..very happy with it..BTW..if you do end up with one your not satisfied with..he is a reasonable man..he'll stand behind it and replace it if nessesary.

[fudgie]

What you could do is have yours check locally. I did and it was only $40.

[MP]

My HO works fine.

MP

[Ricky-D]

With a cheapie volt/ohm meter, like 10 bucks at WalMart, you can perform the simple test determining if what you are running is adequate or not.

Output figures are available for your alternator from any and all manuals.

As a general rule, your alternator is either good or bad. There is no in-between. The diodes are the parts that fail, and brushes and bearings are the parts that usually need replacing if ever.

***

[BOZ]

After 109,000 miles, it is likely the brushes in your alternator are pretty well worn down. Replacing them is not difficult, but does obviously require a tear down of the alternator. Should you decide to go the route of replacing your alternator with one from M.A.R.S. you will be using a reliable supplier. I have a high output alternator from him which puts out approx. 880 watts versus the OEM of 545 watts. The only minor downside to the H.O. alternator is that the RPMs have to be over about 1,100 to start charging, due to the heavier internal weights built into the H.O. alternator. You'd have to sit at a low RPM idle for quite a long time before that would be an issue (has not been a problem for me). You might want to talk to M.A.R.S. about building you say a 60 amp alternator, which would give you about 720 watts output. I'd assume the RPM requirement to get an initial charging rate would be somewhat lower with the 60 amp alternator. Good luck. 

[Ricky-D]

After 109,000 miles, it is likely the brushes in your alternator are pretty well worn down. Replacing them is not difficult, but does obviously require a tear down of the alternator. Should you decide to go the route of replacing your alternator with one from M.A.R.S. you will be using a reliable supplier. I have a high output alternator from him which puts out approx. 880 watts versus the OEM of 545 watts. The only minor downside to the H.O. alternator is that the RPMs have to be over about 1,100 to start charging, due to the heavier internal weights built into the H.O. alternator. You'd have to sit at a low RPM idle for quite a long time before that would be an issue (has not been a problem for me). You might want to talk to M.A.R.S. about building you say a 60 amp alternator, which would give you about 720 watts output. I'd assume the RPM requirement to get an initial charging rate would be somewhat lower with the 60 amp alternator. Good luck. 

I don't agree with that statement at all!

Not to be argumentative but it's an alternator.

On a generator the brushes are continuously having to transfer from one commutator to the next which under the best conditions is still considerable more degenerative to the brushes than in an alternator where it is a smooth and uninterrupted contact for the brushes.

There is no way to put some arbitrary lifetime on an alternator such as miles or years.

***

[John U.]

I

There is no way to put some arbitrary lifetime on an alternator such as miles or years.

***
[/quote]

There is still the wear on the bearings to be considered. As with any moving part failures will occur at varying rates as the part ages and wears. So, no there is no definite end of service life. However, it seems reasonable to assume that an alternator with 109,000 miles on it is closer to the end of it's service life than it once was, and one fine day it will die.

[fudgie]

My bearings were repacked at 42,000. He said my brushes looked good and should check them again at 100k. He said these are good alts and most problems start at 75k or so. He works on alot of Wing alts. He is a local starter/alt guy.

[Ricky-D]

My bearings were repacked at 42,000. He said my brushes looked good and should check them again at 100k. He said these are good alts and most problems start at 75k or so. He works on alot of Wing alts. He is a local starter/alt guy.

That's interesting!  Sounds more like you wallet was uh,,,, unpacked!

Those are sealed bearings in the alternator.

 

***

[Robert]

A few here have replaced the brushes and they have been worn out. The bearings usually dont go but the mileage from people who have had the brushes replaced was around 80k. I have heard mostly good about Mars rebuilder.

[lee]

I had to replace brushes in mine at 75 K.  98 tourer no extra lights.
I will make a wild prediction here and say 95% will need to be replaced somewhere
between 75 and 100K miles. 

[fudgie]

My bearings were repacked at 42,000. He said my brushes looked good and should check them again at 100k. He said these are good alts and most problems start at 75k or so. He works on alot of Wing alts. He is a local starter/alt guy.

That's interesting!  Sounds more like you wallet was uh,,,, unpacked!

Those are sealed bearings in the alternator.

 

***

Thats what he said!  He knows more then I do about'm. I think it was only $20-$40.

[Ronnie Reeves]

I have put ove 100k on several wings and never had any of the bad stators like a lot have ,,, Knock on Wood,,, my highest milage Valkyrie had 307k on it when I sold it and I just went through 3 sets of brushes. Bearing at 300k felt as goog as the new spare I have in my tool box.

[Warlock]

My bearings were repacked at 42,000. He said my brushes looked good and should check them again at 100k. He said these are good alts and most problems start at 75k or so. He works on alot of Wing alts. He is a local starter/alt guy.

That's interesting!  Sounds more like you wallet was uh,,,, unpacked!

Those are sealed bearings in the alternator.

  :)They are sealed bearing, but the shield can be removed very easy and repack them. Being a mechanic for over 35 years I have repacked some. I don't like to repack them, Would rather replace them.
David

***

[R J]

My bearings were repacked at 42,000. He said my brushes looked good and should check them again at 100k. He said these are good alts and most problems start at 75k or so. He works on alot of Wing alts. He is a local starter/alt guy.

That's interesting!  Sounds more like you wallet was uh,,,, unpacked!

Those are sealed bearings in the alternator.

  :)They are sealed bearing, but the shield can be removed very easy and repack them. Being a mechanic for over 35 years I have repacked some. I don't like to repack them, Would rather replace them.
David

***

I'm on my second set of bearings on MGM in 142K+.   Brushes were changed when the last set of bearings were put in, thanks to a grandson.........

[Rocketman]

After 109,000 miles, it is likely the brushes in your alternator are pretty well worn down. Replacing them is not difficult, but does obviously require a tear down of the alternator. Should you decide to go the route of replacing your alternator with one from M.A.R.S. you will be using a reliable supplier. I have a high output alternator from him which puts out approx. 880 watts versus the OEM of 545 watts. The only minor downside to the H.O. alternator is that the RPMs have to be over about 1,100 to start charging, due to the heavier internal weights built into the H.O. alternator. You'd have to sit at a low RPM idle for quite a long time before that would be an issue (has not been a problem for me). You might want to talk to M.A.R.S. about building you say a 60 amp alternator, which would give you about 720 watts output. I'd assume the RPM requirement to get an initial charging rate would be somewhat lower with the 60 amp alternator. Good luck. 

I have a MARS alternator in mine, but he never mentioned HO as an option.  Unless he gives those as his only option, I've got his standard alt.  It doesn't bring me up to full voltage until I'm at ~1100 rpms either.
Never worried about it as I didn't figure that I was running at idle enough to really care about it.

[vanagon40]

I have a rebuilt from MARS and mine charges at 14+ volts even at idle.  There is no difference in the voltage from 800 rpm to 4000 rpm.

I did not order a high output.

[MP]

Rocketman, sounds like you have the high output.  It needs a few more rpm to charge.
I have one.

MP

[fudgie]

Looks like I was wrong. I had my bearings repacked on my starter and not my alt. Alt was fine. Found my reciepts 2 nights ago.

[X Ring]

That's alright Fudge, we all make mistakes.  Just go lay over Kit's knee and have her spank your .   

Marty

[roboto65]

Well thats not punishment for him LOL

[fudgie]

Will do guys! 

[mwv_1500]

Add mine to the list - '99 Interstate w/82K miles and pffft! Fortunately I was only about 200 miles from home. Putting in a M.A.R.S. order today. Also broke one of the bolts removing the alt. Fortunately was the top outside one. Shouldn't be too bad getting out. Honda never heard of galvanisation?

[Ricky-D]

On any and all bolts on the Valkyrie it is suggested to use anti-seize.

Be careful then not to strip the threads out of the parent metal since anti-seize eases the turning friction so it is easy to exceed the thread strength.

***

[1FAST6]

+1 on the MARS HO!  Nice guy, easy to work with, returns phone calls same day!  I've had no issues with mine and have not heard any negative feedback from anyone else.  I first had my old one rebuilt by a local alt shop and MARS sold me a bearing they could not find and shipped it directly to the shop.  After about 3 mos it was making a racket and i figured the local guy damaged the bearing putting it in.  Ordered the MARS HO and swapped them.  Only to find the local guy didn't torque the propeller and it came loose and rattled.  Put it on the shelf and 6 mos later while @ Inzane in TN I got a call from my buddy that he wouldn't make it cuz his alt just died (about 40k mi).  Told him where in my shop to find the rebuilt alt and next morning he was at Inzane with us!  He's still runnung it.