92' SP Alternator Replacement

[1984Lodge]

Here are some photos from the alternator change-out on Kent's 1992 SP. Unfortunately, I did not get any video of this project. I wanted to get this done and did not want to slow things down with filming. Kent took these pictures, thanks Kent!


Kent's 92 SP


Bumper removed, 4 bolts and it comes right off. Really you can also just remove the top two bolts and the bumper will swing down, but this bus has a steel support for the mud flap that is in the way. Probably just as easy to remove the bumper and get it out of the way.


Remove the two bolts that secure the radiator on the left side as you are looking at it. Then the radiator swings out, you need to help the top radiator hose pull out by gently pulling on it.


Remove the fan blade. The fan blade is tight to get out without removing the CAC but you can do it, it has to be in just the right spot and it will slide out. Now you can get to the alternator, sort of.. its tight in there. We shut off both battery banks and disconnected the bus from shore power. No 12v on the back of the alternator is a good thing as its very tight and would be easy to arc something out. I unbolted the alternator from the mounts and got it loose , then turned it so I could remove the cables from it easier. Its almost impossible to get to the back of the alternator when its mounted.


Got the old alternator out, looks like the PO put a car alternator on it. Here I am removing the nut for the pulley with my big impact. Held the pulley wheel with my hand and the big impact took the nut off easily, PO did put anti-seize on it.


New Leese Neville alternator, its based on the old part number 110-555JHO, used to be a very common alternator. The new part number was 8LHA2070VF.


The alternator pulley did not have a notch for the keyway, so I removed the key from the new alternator and then slid the pulley on. Tightened it down with the big impact and all was good. It's a slight tapered fit so it locked on the spindle just fine.

So there were two small wires on the alternator that we were not sure if they were an excitor signal or the tach signal. With some phone a friend help we determined it must be for the tach signal. We tested the wires for any voltage to determine if they were an excitor signal and there was no voltage on the small lines. We turned on both battery banks and also turned the ignition to on to make sure that these wires did not have any excitor voltage on them. So we believe this is the tach signal. The new alternator did not require an exciter wire, it had 3 locations on it for connection of a tach, ac outputs 8 pulses per revolution.

Here is the wiring diagram from Prestolite:
8LHA2070VF_TSB-1028_WIRING_DIAGRAM_8LHA-BLD-LBP.PDF

[Dieselbird01]

Thanks Jeff! Nice write-up!

[tqwrench]

Originally Posted by 1984Lodge

New Leese Neville alternator, its based on the old part number 110-555JHO, used to be a very common alternator. The new part number was 8LHA2070VF.

So that's where the triple nickel alternator came from, SP original equipment. While I was running that out on my coach, of course I found my OE alternator (Motorola - obsolete L-N #) was made of un-obtanium, so I sourced a cheap 555 off fleabay, then I found Ecorse electrical who regularly transacts with those who also used my OE alternator, and went that route to avoid having to mod the brackets. They also upgraded their stock from 130A to 160A. He explained the mod to me, but at the end of the day it was bolt on and it pumps out that current, so I'm good!

[Mike Hohnstein]

Amazon uses the 'old' part number, just got 3 from them. By the way, kudos for working on an SP, terrible engine room, even my skinny young ones hate it when one shows up.

[1984Lodge]

Originally Posted by tqwrench

So that's where the triple nickel alternator came from, SP original equipment. While I was running that out on my coach, of course I found my OE alternator (Motorola - obsolete L-N #) was made of un-obtanium, so I sourced a cheap 555 off fleabay, then I found Ecorse electrical who regularly transacts with those who also used my OE alternator, and went that route to avoid having to mod the brackets. They also upgraded their stock from 130A to 160A. He explained the mod to me, but at the end of the day it was bolt on and it pumps out that current, so I'm good!

And those are the same alternators they used on the PT's as well. My buddy told me they used to put a big pallet of those triple nickels in the middle of the floor and sell them on sale for $80 bucks a piece, a way to get folks in the door. They are not even close to that price now.

Originally Posted by Mike Hohnstein

Amazon uses the 'old' part number, just got 3 from them. By the way, kudos for working on an SP, terrible engine room, even my skinny young ones hate it when one shows up.

I saw them on Amazon, was not sure what kind of quality, maybe not such an issue on a FC or PT but I would not want to have to change that alternator on an SP again any time soon unless you have to.
It was just about 3 hours in and out, and your right, its tight, much tighter than a PT or FC.

[1984Lodge]

Originally Posted by Dieselbird01

Thanks Jeff! Nice write-up!

Thanks John, figured it would be good for those SP guys, seems like there are not that many out there.