Alternator

[prairieschooner]

The Alternator on our '82 is going out. It mounts on the rear of the engine with a 3 bolt flange. I just got off the phone with Chuck and since there are no records and he cannot identify it, he would have to send ours out for repair.
I'm looking for information to identify it. There are no numbers and the tag is missing (after almost 30 years). I'm thinking it is a Leece Neville and Chuck though that it should be about 300 Amp.
thanks

[folivier]

I've had success over the years having (automotive) alternators and starters rebuilt. There is a local guy called Bean (no idea if he has a last name) that does a good job. Neat kinda place, filthy, cash only, thick haze of cigarette smoke, gotta speak redneck or cajun, but does a great job.

[encantotom]

http://www.newellclassic.com/forum/showthread.php?t=903&highlight=leece

hi steve, here is the link to my experience on having my alternator rebuilt.

it is a leece neville and mine is a 160amp.

tom

[encantotom]

i talked to steve and i misunderstood what alternator he has. he has the gear driven one like i know clarke has on his. since he cant see any numbers or id on it, clarke, can you see if you can read any off of yours?

tom

[chockwald]

I'll check it when I get home....just brought the coach and trailer home of our trip to Santa Fe. I'm at the office right now, but you are right, it is gear driven, and is on the side of the motor opposite the radiator....is that the back, or the front....haha!

[encantotom]

steve is having it looked at right now at a shop so unless he says he needs some number or model numbers dont do anything for now clarke.

tom

[encantotom]

i talked to steve and i misunderstood what alternator he has. he has the gear driven one like i know clarke has on his. since he cant see any numbers or id on it, clarke, can you see if you can read any off of yours?

tom

[dwatts]

My 83 -38ft with 6v92 has the gear drive leese neville 160 amp. Had it rebuilt a couple years back and the shop made it 270amp output. Now it will run the frount air through the inverter without running the generator while traveling. Of course I had to install the solid state merge solinoid which will handle 800 amps. Check with your local alternator shops. Hope this helps, dwatts

[dwatts]

the numbers on the tag on my alternator are Leese neville 14 volts 130 amps unit# A0013725j-c date code 8246 parts# 3725jc maybe this will help, dwatts I thought it was a160amp but it was 130amp before the rebuild.

[chockwald]

Mine is also a Leese-Neville, 105 amps, unit # A001090639, 24 volt......gear drive.

[prairieschooner]

Thanks for the help guys!
The Owner of the shop had the tech pull the Alternator apart and he found a bad Rotor. They took it apart while I was there so I feel really good about them. They even let me use their Simpson multi-meter.
Looks like the one in our '82 would most likely have been a 130 Amp 12 Volt Leece Neville. He said that the case was good for 75-130 Amp. I chose to go with the 130 Amp. After almost 30 years, who knows what was original although it should have been 105-130 Amp.
Thanks for the part numbers!! This Forum really helps us with maintaining our Coaches and it is comforting to know that the Owners of the other Newells are so knowledgeable and helpful. I owe you a beer or an Ice Tea, your choice.
thanks,
Steve

[prairieschooner]

Forest,
I forgot to let you know that I worked in a place just like that! My boss called me "BOY" for the first year then one day he looked at me and said "boy, what the hell is your name" after that he never called me boy again.

[Bill & Sonja]

Hi men, since the forum is thinking alternators I have an issue with our 87. My dash voltmeter was reading 12.8 when cruising on the highway. Sounds low but everything seemed to be working ok. Charging feel off and it turned out a belt had broken, actually one was broken and the other had been thrown off probably by dropping compartment insulation. Since replacing the belts the alternator has been working good, too good I think. The voltmeter reads in the high 15 volts, I can reduce the reading by turning on accessories. The batteries will bubble over on a long drive. Has anyone encounter this problem? I'm wondering if it likely calls for servicing, or rebuilding the alternator, or maybe a voltage regulator is in the mix. Any thoughts greatly appreciated.

[prairieschooner]

Bill,
Yes that is high at around 15 Volts. The articles I have seen for deep cycle batteries is 14.4 Volts for flooded lead acid. But the voltage regulator should be adjusting the voltage providing your batteries are in good condition. Float charge is down around 13.3 Volts.
You should most likely start with checking the batteries and cables to see if that corrects the problem. Overcharging could burn out the alternator because i would run hotter than designed.

The inside of my alternator was packed with gunk. Ours is flange mounted at the rear of the engine off of the camshaft and it looks like the seal was worn and allowed an oil leak. It wasn't dripping oil but allowing dirt to collect. This most likely kept the alternator from cooling and the rotor burnt out. The replacement rotor is around $170.00 alone providing the stator is still good this will run a little over $300.00 with me doing the R&R of the alternator.
Looks like it is just another item to keep my eyes on, if you see the gunk collecting near the base of this flange mount, it is most likely time to replace the seal. I will be calling a Detroit Diesel parts supplier later to try an get parts.

[Wally Arntzen]

Guys, my alternator went bad about 5 years ago and I went to an alternater specialty shop in St Paul, MN for a replacement. This shop sold alternators to American Hoist and Derrick which went out of buisness many years ago and he had some of these alternators on the shelf. These alternators are brushless and will last a life time with no maintainance needed of any kind.
He informed me that cranes cannot have a failure when operation and this type of alternator is a required item on their engines.
Because of no more sales to the craine company he offered it to me for the price of a regular one which was around 700.00. He informed me that the brushless one sold for over 2000.00.
In addition to the great deal it is a 460 amp one.

[prairieschooner]

Wally,
I thought of converting to a belt driven type but what the heck. The guy at the alternator shop is a hot rodder and has a great car that he needs to spend money on.

[Bill & Sonja]

I've found this Leece Neville troubling shooting site - http://www.prestolite.com/pgs_support/trouble_shoot_1.php
which someone else may find useful in dealing with alternator problems.
I've yet to eliminate batteries as my problem.

[prairieschooner]

I thought that I should give you guys an up-date.
I bought some of the parts at a Detroit Diesel supplier. Detroit has a newer style oil seal (the one at the coupling) and appears to have the Viton lip material DD part #23508977. I also picked up a flange gasket DD part #23509123. I ordered a new coupler for the alternator because I was warned that these parts are getting hard to come by.
The Re-builder that I was going to use turned out to not be concerned about time. When I told him that we had a trip planned in 3 weeks he said that he "didn't do well under time deadlines", so much for helping a fellow hot rodder! needles to say we went out and picked it up right away. I took the Alternator to another shop yesterday, this one is a Leece Neville distributor. They are located at the Port of Long Beach, CA. The Manager was very aware of the Alternator and didn't think that there would be a problem.
Our Alternator is a 3425J, looks like it has been superseded to a 3425JC. It is a 105 Amp and is the predecessor to what dwatts has. While the Alternators are exchangeable the parts are not, as I was informed by the re-builder.
I have contacted a couple of DD dealers to find out if there is a "kit" to replace these alternators with the belt driven type. So far no luck with a change over "kit".
After all of this I would like to pick up a complete spare just for giggles.

[prairieschooner]

Found a spare! There was a 75 Amp version that is reported to be new that I found on ebay. It is about an hour away and I made a buy it now deal after making a bundle of calls to Leece Neville Distributors/Re-builders.
A rebuilt 3425J is between $575.00 and $801.63 exchange with a $150.00 to $200.00 core charge. I was able to buy the new one for a little more than what they want for a core. A nice new Alternator will be sitting in the parts section of a bay, just in case. Now I will be hunting for the Spacer (fan housing), another Gasket and Coupler are on order already.
The internet is a wonderful place to shop for our Newells.

[Bill & Sonja]

What appears to be the original Leece Neville 160 amp alternator was rebuilt at a cost of $275. here in Calgary at Pro-Built Alternator/Starter. If its of help to anyone in this neighbourhood Charlie is great to deal with and located on Ogden road.

[prairieschooner]

Yes I am sure that there are some local shops that can do the work at a savings over the prices that I reported. Most likely they would not be a Leece-Neville Dealer and after the nightmare that I went through I wanted a reputable Leece-Neville Dealer.
I contacted the shop that Tom used in AZ and the prices were about the same as what I was finding locally. While here in Southern Calif. the prices are a bit more (reflected by labor and rent) any shipping costs would gobble the savings using a repair shop that was outside my driving range.
My model 3425J Alternator has been rebuilt at a cost of $425.00 and required a new Stator, Rotor and Regulator (the independent lost my Regulator and other internal parts). I am not sure that another shop could do this type of repair for much less.


Anyway if anyone sees debris at the lower portion of the alternator then the seal is most likely in poor condition and should be renewed. This could save allot of expense if caught in time. A new Gasket is less than $6.00 and the proper seal is less than $20.00 from DD (the seal is different than what is normally supplied by a Bearing House.. Viton rather than Buna-N.

[prairieschooner]

Clarke,
Replacement Seal Detroit Diesel #23508977, and get a Flange Gasket #23509123.