Alternate Alternator Upgrade - Nissan/Infiniti

[PetroleumJunkie412]

Ranger guy here with a 2.9 Cologne.

I upgraded the original 42 amp alternator in my 1988 to a 3G out of a 1995 Windstar. Harvested both the wiring harness and alternator from the van. It was a direct bolt in with minor modifications. It simultaneously runs my 16" fan, twin Mercedes Benz SLK Kompresor fans, 400 watt stereo, LED cluster headlights, and LED off-road lights without issue.

Pulley was a direct swap from serpentine to v belt. Same pulley OD and bore size.

I'm presuming the Scorpio 2.9 is on a serpentine belt. I can post a photo of the windstar pulley for compatability research.

Bracket solution for me was to toss the Ranger bracket and use an aftermarket one from a Chevy 350 (us Ranger folks are not exactly purists, lol).

If I can be of any help, let me know! I've used your forum a lot over the last year. Appreciate the wealth of knowledge!

[Bob Weir]

A BIG "Thank You" for the info.

Photos will be appreciated. Unfortunately, as a non-paid member, you have to link your images from another server.

Paid members can link directly from their computers and the images are stored in the post on our server.
For membership info, go here
http://www.merkurclub.net/join/joinHow.htm

Do you ever go to the Ford Nationals in Carlisle PA? If so, stop at our tent and say hello.

[brokencase]

The Scorpio is not serpentine....and the mounting of the 3g just won't work in the Scorpio without major surgery. But as we anticipated, the extra amps is worth the effort.

I'm ready to pull the trigger on the '04 Titan alternator swap, just waiting for a good deal on ebay.

[PetroleumJunkie412]

The Scorpio is not serpentine....and the mounting of the 3g just won't work in the Scorpio without major surgery. But as we anticipated, the extra amps is worth the effort.

I'm ready to pull the trigger on the '04 Titan alternator swap, just waiting for a good deal on ebay.

Gotcha.

As far as serpentine options are concerned, the outer crankshaft serpentine pulley from a Mercedes C230 Kompresor will fit on the 2.9 Cologne crankshaft in leiu of the outer v belt pulley. You will need to slightly modify the mount holes, but it does bolt on. The center bore hole is identical.

I'm in the process of adding the M62 supercharger from said C230 to mine, and had to come up with all sorts of unique solutions to problems the build has posed, mostly with the ECU and the auxiliary drive systems.

Another option was to use the serpentine pulley from a 2.8l Aerostar. I have yet to be able to find one, but am still trying to track one down to get a diameter measurement - pre-planning for possible blower ratio issues. The 2.8 Aerostar pulley is a direct bolt on.

The extra amperage is absolutely worth the effort. I have a 1500 watt inverter mounted in my truck as well, and the 3g alternator handles it without trouble, even on a single V belt. I do get a small amount of belt chatter every now and then under heavy loading, but I have yet to have a serious problem as a result. Haven't lost a belt over it yet, either.

I would recommend harvesting a minimum of a 8/0 alternator wiring harness for the swap, and a SERIOUS upgrade to your grounding cables. The EEC-IV will freak out without the extra grounding, and on Ranger, the stock alternator wiring was not nearly heavy enough to handle the 3g. My battery and engine/body/frame grounds are all 1/0 cables (gutted a Chevy suburban with 24"subs in the back for all of it), and my 3g runs on dual 8/0 leads directly into a bussman mega fuse block with a 150 amp mega fuse.

Link to a thread describing auxiliary drive fitment issues (all stemming from the M62):

https://www.therangerstation.com/forums ... ea.179649/

There's some other useful ECU/forced induction stuff in there as well. Been meaning to contact the Merkur crowd for a while now as I'm updating a LOT of the stuff on the tech page over at the Ranger Station.

[PetroleumJunkie412]

A BIG "Thank You" for the info.

Photos will be appreciated. Unfortunately, as a non-paid member, you have to link your images from another server.

Paid members can link directly from their computers and the images are stored in the post on our server.
For membership info, go here
http://www.merkurclub.net/join/joinHow.htm

Do you ever go to the Ford Nationals in Carlisle PA? If so, stop at our tent and say hello.

No worries, and glad to be of help. My truck is "part" Merkur in spirit (have the plenum from a Sierra/Scorpio on the bench, waiting to go on) and I tend to read your site quite a bit for the 2.9 12v stuff.

No plans on Carlisle this year, but who knows. I have a lot of body work to get through before my 1988 Ranger is ready to go to the shows. It is my daily driver, though

[DPDISXR4Ti]

Just as I have for at least the past 100 years, I stopped at the junkyard on the way to Carlisle this past Thursday. To my good fortune, someone was pulling the engine from a 2005 Infiniti G35 and did not want the stock Mitsubishi alternator. Here's how it looks compared to the stock Bosch alternator. As you can see, it readily bolted up to the Scorpio bracket. Although it was possible to snug the alternator ears down to the bracket, fastened properly, you should slide a ~1.5mm thick spacer/washer in there. That also gives you a little play in alignment one way or another should it be needed.

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[brokencase]

What'd I tell ya! You do the research up front and it's a drop in... What's the pulley swap'n looking like?
Were you able to get the plug with it? Oh wait I see you got one of those in the earlier post...

I'll guess I'll pull the trigger on one now

More compact and puts out many more amps than the Bosch unit to boot. I'll bet it's lighter too..

[brokencase]

I bought this 04' Titan unit for $40. Most of the cheap ones on ebay are high mileage >100k. This one only has 71K.
I'll keep you posted.

https://tinyurl.com/y27aybwa

[DPDISXR4Ti]

What's the pulley swap'n looking like?

I haven't yet zapped the big nut off with the impact gun to see what size shaft we're dealing with. It's on the to-do list.

[taylor0987]

Thanks for doing this research. I need a bigger alternator to power my extra horns

I think I pulled them off of an old dump truck in the JY but amazingly they look exactly like these. Even though I wired them through a relay they still dim my headlights.

s-l1600.jpg (49.18 KiB) Viewed 8176 times

(still going to improve my grounds and replace battery cables...)

[DPDISXR4Ti]

The shaft size for both alternators is 17mm, BUT the Mitsu' alternator off the Infiniti has a very short shaft which requires a pulley which is offset into the body of the case. If I slide the stock Scorpio pulley onto the shaft, no threads are left exposed at all. Maybe a V-belt pulley off some 80's/90's Japanese application might work?

[taylor0987]

Here's some different pulleys with dimensional drawings. Most of the descriptions list the application for junkyard sourcing

https://store.alternatorparts.com/17mm.aspx

[brokencase]

The shaft size for both alternators is 17mm, BUT the Mitsu' alternator off the Infiniti has a very short shaft which requires a pulley which is offset into the body of the case. If I slide the stock Scorpio pulley onto the shaft, no threads are left exposed at all. Maybe a V-belt pulley off some 80's/90's Japanese application might work?

I have a lathe, so something like this won't stop me. I would just face the inner side of the Scorpio pulley to expose more threads.

My alternator is on the way. Let me take a look at things when it gets here.

I thought I posted a link earlier to a v-pulley that was up on ebay?

[brokencase]

Plenty of options out there...

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R ... y&_sacat=0

Keep in mind that .67" = 17mm

[DPDISXR4Ti]

Here's some different pulleys with dimensional drawings. Most of the descriptions list the application for junkyard sourcing

https://store.alternatorparts.com/17mm.aspx

Good link - thanks! Just taking a quick look, this one looks the most promising...

# 2481103 - 1-Groove Pulley For Hitachi Type Alternators - 10mm Belt x 74mm OD x 17mm Bore

1-Groove machined pulley cut from cold rolled steel. For Hitachi type alternators, unit numbers LR150-711, LR160-723, LR160-723B, LR160-724, LR160-725, LR160-725C, LR160-727, LR170-757B, used on (2001-90) Honda, Isuzu, Nissan vehicles.

Should be widely available at the junkyard since it was used for over a decade on Honda/Nissan applications. Note to self/others, 24mm socket likely needed for pulley nut removal.