Good writeup, lots of pics. This is how things should be
For all those who know they need a bigger alternator than the piss-weak 50A job that Toyota fitted to your 18R or 2T/3T variant engine... this is the guide for you!
EA Falcon 85Amp Alternator Upgrade
You will need:
- Alternator from EA Falcon (careful, there are 3 different sizes!)
- Spare mounting bracket for your engine, unless you dont mind hacking up your only one...
- A bench grinder. Angle grinder will work, but will be very time consuming
- New fan/alternator belt
A recent trip to Pick'n'Payless wreckers showed me that EA falcons run an alternator that is close enough to those on an 18R or 2T/3T engine that it would bit with a little bit of effort.... and that the EA alternators are all internally regulated, with amperage output varying from 65Amp to 85Amp!!
EA on the left, 18RG on the right:
Of course taking the 85Amp one is the primo choice. Be sure to take with you the mounting bolts and plug for the regulator too.
The part numbering on the top of the alternator tells you the amp rating:
When comparing the EA alternator to an 18R-G alternator, you'll notice that the foot spacing (the feet at which the alternator pivots) is slightly smaller on the EA one.
EA foot spacing = 70mm
18R foot spacing = 75.5mm
You can see this here:
The solution to this, of course, is to grind some metal!!!
You must only grind from the rear mounting tabs though - the pulley is in the right position if the front tabs are not touched.
Take about 4mm or so off the rear facing edge of the mounting bracket for the alternator, and then about 1mm off the inside face of the rear foot of the EA alternator. You could just take 5mm off the mounting bracket though...
Modified Bracket on the right:
Also, you will need to grind a bit of an angle to allow the alternator to pivot towards the engine, note the ground bracket on the left
Now comes the fun part.... bolt the modified bracket to your engine, and you'll find (as i did on the 18RG) that the EA alternator bolt must go in from the rear, as the front foot/tab is threaded - but there is a freaken engine mount in the way!!
To get around this just bolt the top bolt of the alternator bracket into the block by hand and leave the second/bottom bolt out, this allows you to rotate the bracket enough to get the bolt in from the rear. Now you can do up the bottom bracket bolt into the block, and tighten it and the top bracket bolt up... but leave the alternator bolts loose enough to allow fitment of the new belt.
Now there is a LOT less adjustment with the EA alternator than there was with the stock one.... so for me measuring the correct belt length was important. Im not sure how this affects T series engines though.
There was only about 5-10mm of movement at the alternator's adjustment arm mount (the long swing arm thingy), cos the alternator is bigger than the 18R one and cant get as close to the block, leaving only 5-10mm of play before reaching the end of travel on the top adjustment arm mount.
Elongating the holes on the adjusting arm mount would help, but i managed to *just* get away without doing this - using an 825mm belt.
EDIT - recently changed the 825mm belt to a 815mm belt. It still fits, you have to remove the water pump pulley to get it on though. MUCH better tension adjustment.
After you have sorted out these issues of mounting and belt placement... unplug and throw out your external voltage regulator.
I ensured that mine met a fine end with a large hammer.
The body loom side of the external voltage regulator plug is a 6 pin jobbie, and you want two of those wires for the Bosch's internal regulator:
S - voltage sense (battery)
L - charge light
Note my dodgy temporary wiring... it is not recomended to be this dodgy!
Then hook up the main power wire, i recommend upgrading to something a little beefier than the stock one...... and you are done, save for the usual things you should be doing when installing an alternator...
Last edited by The Witzl; 24-05-2012 at 12:42 PM. Reason: fixing pics
...... butt scratcher?!
Good writeup, lots of pics. This is how things should be
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my alternator is dead too, i only have a 40A one too
JZX83+ FMIC+ Twin 2.5" dumps to 3"+ FCD+ 2800rpm stallie+ 14psi - LSD - good tyres = 12.85 @105.58
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Awesome info, I may have to give this a try at some point in the near future.
Norbie!
www.norbie.net
ohhhh grinding metal off, thats sounds hard!
can't it just be bolt in!!
but anyway, excellent thread, plenty of info for anyone wanting to follow in ur footsteps.
Just to answer a question that was asked.... the XF falcooons only have a 70A or 60A alternator. I checked SEVERAL of them!
...... butt scratcher?!
How has this been going? Any problems or you got it 2 work prefect first time?
mate it hasnt missed a beat! It's still running just the same as it was when i installed it, and i havent done anything other than tidy up the wiring.
the best part is my battery no longer goes flat when i turn on my headlights!
...... butt scratcher?!
This will have to be done to ours, although since we keep blowing voltage regulators, the easiness of replacing an external does have it's merits.
Of course, we could just stop dropping screw drivers between the alternator and the extractors.
One should not have to keep a spare voltage regulator in the car!
Strong like horse, smort like tractor!
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My original 18R alternator was a pissweak 35A, If i knew about this when i did my EFI conversion, i would have grabbed an EA/EB foulcan alternator from work when i was at the fraud wrecker.... Ohh the hind sight is blinding
Cheers, Owen
PS, good thread, +rep fo Joo
Cheers, Owen
1977 RA28 with 1JZ-GTE (Was 18R-GTE)
Lancer EVO Brakes into old Celica/Corolla/Corona
Doing the things that aren't popular... cause being popular and being good are often distinctly different.
That alternator looks identical to those found on 3.8L Buick engines from VN-VR Commodores. I don't know what amperage they are rated, but I can check both of mine when I get home tonight.
Just thought I'd mention this as another source.
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I wouldnt dare lower myself to a buick engineOriginally Posted by Sigmeister
.... and here in sydney, where we have Pick'n'Payless wreckers..... there is no other car more abundant than an EA Falcon.
See in this pic below (this pic is a few yrs old)..... currently, the left hand side of the yard, the first 3-4 rows of cars outside of the fenced area - they are ALL EA/EB falcons.
...... butt scratcher?!
have a real close look.....theres no rear mount bracket on the back of the VN/VP/VR 3.8 alternator and the front brackets are very different. also the pulley on a VN ect is multi rib the EA one is not.That alternator looks identical to those found on 3.8L Buick engines from VN-VR Commodores. I don't know what amperage they are rated, but I can check both of mine when I get home tonight.
Just thought I'd mention this as another source.
you could swap the casing between the two alternators but it wouldn't kinda make it worthwhile (more work, easier to get a EA one)
IIRC the VN alternators are 65A with the BT1 and V8 ones being 85A. A V8 alternator might be worth a look in though as they didn't run a multi rib belt and have a rear mount bracket ect as part of the case.
hope this helps
I havenīt looked at the EA alternators but one of the great features of the bosch alternators was that they ran a combined regulator and brushes held in the back with two screws. A replacement set can be purchased from supercheap and it takes 2 minutes to change it out (while still in the car).
Witzl is this the same on the EA? If so maybe a photo so people are not worried about having an "internal regulator". If so it beats tearing apart an alternator to resolder in a new set of brushes when they wear out.
Modern Nipondensos are very expensive to repair (unless it is the $4 set of brushes) and a change to an aftermarket Bosch is a very sensible option. Normally it is $500-$600 for a new replacement alternator and under $200 for a new Bosch unit, which gives you $300 to work out how to fit the new one and the advantage of cheap replacement regulator brush sets from then on.
yes. The EA one is the same.
if you have a look at the plug on top - the thing it plugs into is the reg.
they are about $30 and about 2 mins to replace like u say
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