Posted by wws on October 18, 03 at 19:05:05:
Executive summary: Installed, working, but needs a bit of detail.
To recap: 1996 K1500 w/5.7 and had alternator failure a couple weeks ago at 90k miles. Decided to upgrade to CS-144 as it is supposed to be a 'bolt in'.
Removal of the old alt is, of course a no brainer. Disconnect the neg term on the battery, remove the wiring from the alt, remove the fan belt, remove the three bolts (two under the front, and one on the back) and pry it out. If I were to have replaced it with another CS-130D I have had the whole thing done in a few minutes. The only wierdness is that there are a couple of bushing-like things which must be pushed out a mm or two to allow the new alt to be slipped into place.
The big problem when attempting to install the CS-144 is the L-shaped bracket on the backside. The CS-144 is a bit deeper than the CS-130D - so I figured "great - I'll put some washers on the bolts holding the bracket to the alternator mount to shim things out." This worked for one of the bolts. However the inner (driver side) bolt could not be removed - as it is too long to clear the intake manifold. One would have to remove the alternator mount (a big aluminum casting, but only 2-3 bolts) in order to get that bolt out... Grrr...
Since we had to make a Costco run today, I just had to hack it back together. With the driver side bracket bolt loosened, and the pass side bolt removed, I swung the bracket up (about 30 degrees is all you get, but this is just enough) and the CS-144 slipped right into place.
I tied the bracket up out of the way so it would not vibrate. And noticed that there is a 4th hole in the bracket - just at the right location for the CS-144's rear mounting hole. Unfortunately it is too small and would need to be drilled out.
So my alt is now held in place by the two lower bolts only. Considering that the bolts go through the entire alt casting, this seems solid enough. And the web sites which are proponents of CS-144 upgrades claim you don't need the rear mount any - they recommend tossing the rear bracket (assuming one could get the d*mn thing out...)
The remainder of the install was pretty much cookbook. For the serpentine belt, Steve D gave the Gates part number of K060966 - and this was confirmed at the Gates web site. The parts store I went to had the Dayco Drive-Rite equivalent - part no 968K6 (also later confirmed at their web site.) The Dayco belt went on with no problems.
For the CS-144 electrical connector, I searched all over town for the thing, and no one had it. Finally went to a local alternator/starter repair shop and they had them. Also bought my CS-144 there.
I've been looking for the Metri-Pack side male connector so I wouldn't have to hack the OE connector off. Made do, temporarily, by adapting Weather-Pack parts - which I could find. But still want to find the correct Metri-Pack connector. (One place that stocks the Metri-Pack connectors is www.waytekwire.com - but I'd have to order enough parts for about 15 of them to hit their minimum order size... May do it anyway.)
So all is operational and the Costco run went without problem. (BTW, we picked up a Costco-sized pack of hot dogs...)