Leece Neville alternator conversion.
12-02-2004, 09:16 AM
#1
Administrator
Thread Starter
Leece Neville alternator conversion.
Leece Neville Alternator conversion Part-1
I spent probably close to a week going back and fourth to the truck parts looking at specs. online and trial fitting to get this to work. Now that I know what it takes, I don’t know why I didn’t do it along time ago. Just be sure to disconnect BOTH battery terminals, and wear eye protection.
The alternator I used was a Leece Neville 110-555HD.The 110-555HD is a 140 amp version and is available at most truck parts houses and truck stops. The 140-amp version is also a new updated HD model, with better low speed output, so it is probably my best choice. You cannot use some of the larger JB,LB,or JC series alternators, like the 2500 series, as they have a different regulator which will contact the air inlet tube to the turbocharger, and eventually cause air leaks. If in doubt contact me as I have all the datasheets and dimensions as to what will fit. If you want to check out all of the units they have, check on their website.
http://www.prestolite.com/index.html
You will also need a 8 Groove serpentine pulley. The pulley part number is a generic rebuilder number #1269P. You will have to machine off the stepped end until the overall thickness is 1.350”. Remove the key stock on the alt shaft before installing pulley and torque the nut.
Go to your quality parts house and get a new belt (dayco #5080825 or 8PK2095), I got the dayco Poly-Cog and there is not much chirp.
You will need two bolts\nuts. A 3/8 X6” NC bolt, and nut, with one flat washer, and a 3/8 NC Lockut, and one 1/2x1.5” NC with two flat washers and a 3/8 NC Locknut. I used Grade-8 bolts for both of these.
You will need to acquire up some bushings which are 3/8” ID and ˝” OD. These will go inside the mounting “ears” of the alternator and allow you to use a 3/8” bolt to fit the original lower mounting bracket. You will also need to purchase or make a spacer that is just less than 2” long with a 3/8” ID because the Leece-Neville alt has 4” ear spacing, and the factory unit was only 2”. I found these at my local Specialty Bolt and Fastener store.
Your will need a piece of 1” X 1/8” flat steel approx 6” long.
Also get a bypass hose (dayco #80400) for automatic transmission.
This will be a 90 degree 5/8” heater hose elbow, with about 4” of length on one end to reroute the trans heat exchanger line coming out behind the alternator. You should not need this if you have a manual transmission since there should be no heat exchanger.
Check to see if there is an alternator fuse, if there is you might need a larger one. I used a 150-amp 32-volt “T” fuse where it connects to the battery.
Lets start putting it together now. Install the pulley with the machined side inwards against the alt fan. Torque the nut to the specs listed on the fan. (Use an impact wrench).
Find your ˝” to 3/8” bushings and cut\or grind down the first one to the same thickness as the front lower ear of the alternator. At first my bushings were oillite but I later found steel ones at my local Specialty Bolt and Fastener store. Hold it in with a little RTV silicone or hot glue on it to secure it in the ear of the alternator so it does not fall out upon installation.
Then do the same for the rear lower ear, and secure that bushing as well. Temporarily install your 3/8” long bolt (with a flat washer) through the ears and screw on your locknut, just till its snug. Mark the bolt flush at the end of the nut, and then cut off the excess so nothing protrudes beyond the end of the nut (or it will rub the heater pipe upon installation). Remove the bolt, and secure it in a vice then thread an old 3/8 nut on the bolt past your mark, cut it slowly with a hacksaw or cutoff wheel, dress the edges, and screw the nut back off to clean up the threads.
Remove the top alternator tensioner bracket.
Remove the air inlet hose to the turbo. Place a rag over the turbo, or use tape to block off the inlet I used 2” BLUE painters masking tape.
Disconnect the wiring harness and remove the old alternator saving all of the old hardware and put it aside.
Undo the two heater line clamps above the exhaust manifold so the heater lines are loose. Undo the little bracket for the coolant pipe from the water outlet to the trans heat exchanger (if equipped), and remove the pipe completely. Unclamp and remove the elbow on the front of the pipe, and replace it with the new hose elbow. You may have to trim one end of the elbow to keep it as close to the block as possible. Leave about 4” on the other end and slip the long end on the pipe, and the short end on the pipe nipple. Remove the heater hose return at the lower water inlet. Take the new alternator and hold it in place, then put in your lower bolt, don’t worry about the 2” spacer between the ears at this time. Hand tighten the nut just enough to keep the alternator steady. The alt fan will probably contact the edge of the belt tensioner. I removed the alt and ground down the raised area on the tensioner with a die grinder for added clearance. It probably won’t be necessary once the alternator is rotated up and mounted. Be careful to take off too only enough to flatten it out a bit. Once done reinstall the alt and lower bolt, hand tight .You will now find when you go to re-install the heater pipe running down to the water inlet, it will hit the back of the alternator. It has a little “s” bend at the bottom already, so all you do is rotate it until it clears, then rebend the top bend to make it line up with your heater pipe, It also helps if you slide it back as far as possible before re-installing the mounting clamps to the manifold. I cut off about an inch off the heater hose, near the core, as I slid my pipe back about an inch and a half. Make sure it doesn’t rub anywhere or it will eventually wear through, and leak, due to the vibration. If you have a manual transmission without heat exchanger, you should be able to reconnect everything you disconnected from the heater pipes. If you do have the heat exchanger your will have to move that pipe upwards to clear the alternator assy. The new elbow on the front will give you the height you need at the front, and you will have to bend the rear to line up again with the heat exchanger. You may have to run a new piece of 5\8” heater hose at the other end, just a little bit longer. Try not to kink this hose, take your time and bend the pipe little by little, and it will come out just fine. Once it clears every thing, bolt every thing back up, and double check. Try to reuse the factory spring type hose clamps as they do a much better job and don’t come loose. Be sure and match up the clamp as to where it was positioned before (look at the original marks in the hose) to prevent leaks. You can add a piece of heater hose cut open and secured with two zip ties around the elbow hose where it is close to the alternator. This adds some extra protection so the hose won’t wear through. Once that is done, you will have to remove the clamp and reposition it on the bracket that bolts to the exhaust manifold. This is due to the pipe now being higher. Simply redrill a 5/16” hole and bolt it back on. Make sure the heat exchanger pipe does not rub on the heater pipe where they cross over. You may have to bend the bracket up to make it clear.
Now you can remove your lower bolt and install the 2” spacer, and tighten up the bottom bolt, just enough to hold up the alt. Bolt the upper bracket in place and make two links from your piece of 1” flat stock (approx 2-3” long) with a ˝” hole on one end and a 10MM hole on the other. You should be able to rotate the alt up until it about Ľ” away from the water outlet, and then measure the distance for your links. You can now bolt these two links (with a ˝” nut as a spacer) using the original alt bolt to the original alt bracket, and use a ˝” bolt to bolt them to the new alt. Use a nut on the back side to hold the rear link. Due to the casting ridge on my new alt I had to just clearance the top ear of the alt to get the bolt through the top bracket. Also check the clearance to the alt fan and alt bracket near where it bolts to the water outlet; I had to grind it down, just to be safe. Once it’s all bolted on, torque all the bolts. Because the upper ear of the alternator is threaded, you will have to tighten the bolt first, and then tighten the nut on the back, or you’ll damage it. Now double check to make sure nothing is rubbing hitting or binding, and spin the alt to make sure the fan clears everything. If not, find out and fix it now.
You can now install a longer belt, part #5080825 or 8PK2095. dayco Poly-Cog. Make sure you get the exact belt, otherwise it will slip if too big or damage bearings if too small. It can be difficult to get on, take your time. Watch the bottom of the crank pulley, it has to slide up past the oil pan first, or you’ll never get it on.
I spent probably close to a week going back and fourth to the truck parts looking at specs. online and trial fitting to get this to work. Now that I know what it takes, I don’t know why I didn’t do it along time ago. Just be sure to disconnect BOTH battery terminals, and wear eye protection.
The alternator I used was a Leece Neville 110-555HD.The 110-555HD is a 140 amp version and is available at most truck parts houses and truck stops. The 140-amp version is also a new updated HD model, with better low speed output, so it is probably my best choice. You cannot use some of the larger JB,LB,or JC series alternators, like the 2500 series, as they have a different regulator which will contact the air inlet tube to the turbocharger, and eventually cause air leaks. If in doubt contact me as I have all the datasheets and dimensions as to what will fit. If you want to check out all of the units they have, check on their website.
http://www.prestolite.com/index.html
You will also need a 8 Groove serpentine pulley. The pulley part number is a generic rebuilder number #1269P. You will have to machine off the stepped end until the overall thickness is 1.350”. Remove the key stock on the alt shaft before installing pulley and torque the nut.
Go to your quality parts house and get a new belt (dayco #5080825 or 8PK2095), I got the dayco Poly-Cog and there is not much chirp.
You will need two bolts\nuts. A 3/8 X6” NC bolt, and nut, with one flat washer, and a 3/8 NC Lockut, and one 1/2x1.5” NC with two flat washers and a 3/8 NC Locknut. I used Grade-8 bolts for both of these.
You will need to acquire up some bushings which are 3/8” ID and ˝” OD. These will go inside the mounting “ears” of the alternator and allow you to use a 3/8” bolt to fit the original lower mounting bracket. You will also need to purchase or make a spacer that is just less than 2” long with a 3/8” ID because the Leece-Neville alt has 4” ear spacing, and the factory unit was only 2”. I found these at my local Specialty Bolt and Fastener store.
Your will need a piece of 1” X 1/8” flat steel approx 6” long.
Also get a bypass hose (dayco #80400) for automatic transmission.
This will be a 90 degree 5/8” heater hose elbow, with about 4” of length on one end to reroute the trans heat exchanger line coming out behind the alternator. You should not need this if you have a manual transmission since there should be no heat exchanger.
Check to see if there is an alternator fuse, if there is you might need a larger one. I used a 150-amp 32-volt “T” fuse where it connects to the battery.
Lets start putting it together now. Install the pulley with the machined side inwards against the alt fan. Torque the nut to the specs listed on the fan. (Use an impact wrench).
Find your ˝” to 3/8” bushings and cut\or grind down the first one to the same thickness as the front lower ear of the alternator. At first my bushings were oillite but I later found steel ones at my local Specialty Bolt and Fastener store. Hold it in with a little RTV silicone or hot glue on it to secure it in the ear of the alternator so it does not fall out upon installation.
Then do the same for the rear lower ear, and secure that bushing as well. Temporarily install your 3/8” long bolt (with a flat washer) through the ears and screw on your locknut, just till its snug. Mark the bolt flush at the end of the nut, and then cut off the excess so nothing protrudes beyond the end of the nut (or it will rub the heater pipe upon installation). Remove the bolt, and secure it in a vice then thread an old 3/8 nut on the bolt past your mark, cut it slowly with a hacksaw or cutoff wheel, dress the edges, and screw the nut back off to clean up the threads.
Remove the top alternator tensioner bracket.
Remove the air inlet hose to the turbo. Place a rag over the turbo, or use tape to block off the inlet I used 2” BLUE painters masking tape.
Disconnect the wiring harness and remove the old alternator saving all of the old hardware and put it aside.
Undo the two heater line clamps above the exhaust manifold so the heater lines are loose. Undo the little bracket for the coolant pipe from the water outlet to the trans heat exchanger (if equipped), and remove the pipe completely. Unclamp and remove the elbow on the front of the pipe, and replace it with the new hose elbow. You may have to trim one end of the elbow to keep it as close to the block as possible. Leave about 4” on the other end and slip the long end on the pipe, and the short end on the pipe nipple. Remove the heater hose return at the lower water inlet. Take the new alternator and hold it in place, then put in your lower bolt, don’t worry about the 2” spacer between the ears at this time. Hand tighten the nut just enough to keep the alternator steady. The alt fan will probably contact the edge of the belt tensioner. I removed the alt and ground down the raised area on the tensioner with a die grinder for added clearance. It probably won’t be necessary once the alternator is rotated up and mounted. Be careful to take off too only enough to flatten it out a bit. Once done reinstall the alt and lower bolt, hand tight .You will now find when you go to re-install the heater pipe running down to the water inlet, it will hit the back of the alternator. It has a little “s” bend at the bottom already, so all you do is rotate it until it clears, then rebend the top bend to make it line up with your heater pipe, It also helps if you slide it back as far as possible before re-installing the mounting clamps to the manifold. I cut off about an inch off the heater hose, near the core, as I slid my pipe back about an inch and a half. Make sure it doesn’t rub anywhere or it will eventually wear through, and leak, due to the vibration. If you have a manual transmission without heat exchanger, you should be able to reconnect everything you disconnected from the heater pipes. If you do have the heat exchanger your will have to move that pipe upwards to clear the alternator assy. The new elbow on the front will give you the height you need at the front, and you will have to bend the rear to line up again with the heat exchanger. You may have to run a new piece of 5\8” heater hose at the other end, just a little bit longer. Try not to kink this hose, take your time and bend the pipe little by little, and it will come out just fine. Once it clears every thing, bolt every thing back up, and double check. Try to reuse the factory spring type hose clamps as they do a much better job and don’t come loose. Be sure and match up the clamp as to where it was positioned before (look at the original marks in the hose) to prevent leaks. You can add a piece of heater hose cut open and secured with two zip ties around the elbow hose where it is close to the alternator. This adds some extra protection so the hose won’t wear through. Once that is done, you will have to remove the clamp and reposition it on the bracket that bolts to the exhaust manifold. This is due to the pipe now being higher. Simply redrill a 5/16” hole and bolt it back on. Make sure the heat exchanger pipe does not rub on the heater pipe where they cross over. You may have to bend the bracket up to make it clear.
Now you can remove your lower bolt and install the 2” spacer, and tighten up the bottom bolt, just enough to hold up the alt. Bolt the upper bracket in place and make two links from your piece of 1” flat stock (approx 2-3” long) with a ˝” hole on one end and a 10MM hole on the other. You should be able to rotate the alt up until it about Ľ” away from the water outlet, and then measure the distance for your links. You can now bolt these two links (with a ˝” nut as a spacer) using the original alt bolt to the original alt bracket, and use a ˝” bolt to bolt them to the new alt. Use a nut on the back side to hold the rear link. Due to the casting ridge on my new alt I had to just clearance the top ear of the alt to get the bolt through the top bracket. Also check the clearance to the alt fan and alt bracket near where it bolts to the water outlet; I had to grind it down, just to be safe. Once it’s all bolted on, torque all the bolts. Because the upper ear of the alternator is threaded, you will have to tighten the bolt first, and then tighten the nut on the back, or you’ll damage it. Now double check to make sure nothing is rubbing hitting or binding, and spin the alt to make sure the fan clears everything. If not, find out and fix it now.
You can now install a longer belt, part #5080825 or 8PK2095. dayco Poly-Cog. Make sure you get the exact belt, otherwise it will slip if too big or damage bearings if too small. It can be difficult to get on, take your time. Watch the bottom of the crank pulley, it has to slide up past the oil pan first, or you’ll never get it on.
12-02-2004, 09:21 AM
#2
Administrator
Thread Starter
Leece Neville Aternator conversion. Part-2
Almost done..
Now we need to make your electrical connections to the rear of the alt. You can use the factory wiring, but I chose to tape it off incase I needed to reinstall the old alternator when I sell the truck. So I made my cables using #2 welding cable with the appropriate size lugs, Ground the case to the block, then I made a positive cable from #2 welding cable connecting it to the positive stud and then routing it along the water pipes to the firewall joining the factory harness to the drivers side up to the battery. That is where I installed the 150-amp fuse and connected it directly to the pos. battery post. Fuse protection is needed at this point because when you are using welding cable of this size and you accidentally short it out, it is a DEAD short.
The alternator is self-exciting and requires no turn on wire. If you have the ability to perform this installation and understand what was done then you should have no problem upgrading your electrical system from this point. If you were to install an ammeter on this system you would want to use a shunt style where the shunt would be located at the battery and connected to the meter with smaller gauge wires. Be careful” anytime you work with HIGH current batteries and cables with virtually NO resistance there is a chance of fire or exploding the battery. I have seen it first hand. Let me know if you run into any problems. Jim
11/26/2004
Almost done..
Now we need to make your electrical connections to the rear of the alt. You can use the factory wiring, but I chose to tape it off incase I needed to reinstall the old alternator when I sell the truck. So I made my cables using #2 welding cable with the appropriate size lugs, Ground the case to the block, then I made a positive cable from #2 welding cable connecting it to the positive stud and then routing it along the water pipes to the firewall joining the factory harness to the drivers side up to the battery. That is where I installed the 150-amp fuse and connected it directly to the pos. battery post. Fuse protection is needed at this point because when you are using welding cable of this size and you accidentally short it out, it is a DEAD short.
The alternator is self-exciting and requires no turn on wire. If you have the ability to perform this installation and understand what was done then you should have no problem upgrading your electrical system from this point. If you were to install an ammeter on this system you would want to use a shunt style where the shunt would be located at the battery and connected to the meter with smaller gauge wires. Be careful” anytime you work with HIGH current batteries and cables with virtually NO resistance there is a chance of fire or exploding the battery. I have seen it first hand. Let me know if you run into any problems. Jim
11/26/2004
12-03-2004, 12:05 AM
#4
Registered User
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: South Western New Mexico
Posts: 822
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Sounds very complete and precise. I've done this conversion on ford's and chevy's but not on the dodge cummins with that model L/N alt. Leece Neville makes a top of the line alternator that will go many miles almost trouble free. The biggest problem I have seen on the L/N alt is on hi amp draw applications the brushes will wear out between 80,000 to 100,000 miles of continuous use. And that is not a problem,
12-08-2004, 05:55 PM
#7
Registered User
Originally posted by Cgg
Hello Jim, I wanted to know how much does that L/N alt. cost? They used to be rather expensive. $300. But that was a while ago.
Hello Jim, I wanted to know how much does that L/N alt. cost? They used to be rather expensive. $300. But that was a while ago.
Trending Topics
12-10-2004, 07:15 AM
#9
Administrator
Thread Starter
Sorry everyone, I said I had the pictures of this conversion in my Photo Gallery but I just found out that I forgot to post them. I will get that done as soon as I can. It will make the instructions a lot easier to understand.
Jim.
Jim.
11-17-2005, 10:08 PM
#10
Registered User
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Walden, NY
Posts: 272
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Im dusting off this old thread, i did the Leece Neville conversion a while back,before I knew of this thread. I have 2 snowplows on my 2500 CTD,and an electric vbox spreader,between those 3 and all the lights,strobes,and acc i added,the load on the stock Alt was just too much.The low voltage chime came on way to often when retracting the wing plow.The leece Neville alt is a powerhouse,it puts out 150amps hot,after 8 hrs of plowing snow.It puts out almost 200amps cold.I upgraded my charge wire to a 0/1 guage wire,since the stock wire is too small,and the 140amp fuse pops the instant you raise the plow or the grid heater cycle. here is a picture of mine. It went on very easy,since i had already removed all the cooler lines when i twinned the truck. I thought the cold pipe from the PDR twins might hit the alt,but as you can see in the pic it clears just fine.Since i cant figure out how to post pics here,heres a link to the thread on the Lets talk snow snow plowing board. You have to register to go on this time of yr. Anyone who plows will love this site, http://www.letstalksnow.com/forums/s...=Leece+Neville
01-29-2007, 04:52 PM
#12
Registered User
Join Date: Aug 2004
Posts: 5
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I just happened to come across this thread today,and realized that it sounded very familiar.It should,as I wrote it originally.
While the original poster may have done the conversion on his truck,the original write up was done by myself (AKA Bigramguy on the TDR),back in early 2002.Parts of that write up have been cut and pasted into this thread.
The original write up of my conversion is here.
I don't mind that you used the information here,as it was put up to allow others to do the same mods on their trucks,just make sure you at least mention where you got it from.
I'm surprised John didn't notice it.
While the original poster may have done the conversion on his truck,the original write up was done by myself (AKA Bigramguy on the TDR),back in early 2002.Parts of that write up have been cut and pasted into this thread.
The original write up of my conversion is here.
I don't mind that you used the information here,as it was put up to allow others to do the same mods on their trucks,just make sure you at least mention where you got it from.
I'm surprised John didn't notice it.
01-29-2007, 05:15 PM
#13
I didn't see anything in Jim Lane's post above cut 'n paste out of your TDR post, at least not from the first one that non-members can see. Does actual verbatim plagarism exist from there somewhere further down in the thread?
If so, shame on you, Jim. If not, good luck trying to patent the idea of ugrading an alternator wyldman.
If so, shame on you, Jim. If not, good luck trying to patent the idea of ugrading an alternator wyldman.
