CVF Alternator running hot

-
Justin Angle

Justin Angle

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 16, 2019
Messages
76
Reaction score
23
Location
St. Louis
I just put a new CVF 1 wire alternator on my Duster and noticed after a few minutes of idling the alternator gets really hot, too hot to even touch, especially the pulley. I tried disconnecting the charger wire and letting it idle and it gets warm but nothing like when charge wire is connected which leads me to believe it's not a belt slipping or anything. Car has the Madd Ammeter bypass with 4 gauge charge cable(Fused) and Ford contour fans. All heavy loads are fused, wired independently of stock wiring and on relays. I left CVF a message but have yet to hear back. (It's Friday afternoon). Alternator is putting out around 14.5 volts. Had car loaded on trailer to take to track tomorrow and just noticed this. Anyone else have this problem or advice?
 
I’m thinking you actually do have some belt slip going on. The heat is a tell tale, and it running cooler unplugged (no load) kinda supports that theory because there’s virtually no resistance, so the belt stops slipping and is just along for the ride. See what you can do to tighten it up more?

Does the belt fit down inside the groove in the pulley and look even, or does it sit up above, or way down inside? Could also be that the reduced contact patch (if not a proper fit) is increasing pressure and raising temperature in turn. Belts and pulleys have different widths and pitch angles like 1/2” or 3/8”, and AX or 3VX (do some googling). So, even though the belt will stay in the groove, you may not have a good fit between the two. This problem is easy to run into when putting an aftermarket alternator with original crank and water pump pulleys. In theory, CVF matched their Chrysler pulley up, but there’s always room for error.

Wishing you the best!
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the replies so far. I'm running a Dayco 15470 belt. One they recommend. I could try going to all CVF pulleys just reluctant because I did 70+ style OEM pulleys from bouchillon about a year ago. I'll check ground cables I have them from going from battery to passenger head, battery to negative terminal strip for accessories, and back of driver side head to master cylinder stud. Maybe I'll run one to the frame also.
 
^^^^Good to go from rear of head to a nut welded to the frame. Another member on here gave me that idea. Takes the guesswork out of it!
 
If it’s a Powermaster alternator and it may be, as the one I bought from CVF was, then the body of the alternator should be earthed, especially if you’re using aluminum heads!
 
If the body of the alt was not earthed, then there would no current flow through the alt & therefore no heat generated.

I cannot see how the alt can be mounted [ with bracket etc to the engine ] without being earthed.....
 
Bewy said:
If the body of the alt was not earthed, then there would no current flow through the alt & therefore no heat generated.

I cannot see how the alt can be mounted [ with bracket etc to the engine ] without being earthed.....
Click to expand...
Regardless, Powermaster provide a dedicated ground terminal on their alternators with the direction to match the ground cable size to that of the power cable.
 
What size is the charge wire from the Alt? Using a one wire alt, you want to up the size of wire that is used compared to using a mopar style Alt. Since this charge wire is the sensing wire to regulate the amp output. Should be at least 2 gauge. Did you remove / bypass the field regulator when changing to the one wire?
 
Cal Tonsley said:
If it’s a Powermaster alternator and it may be, as the one I bought from CVF was, then the body of the alternator should be earthed, especially if you’re using aluminum I ran an 8 gauge separate ground wire from case to negative battery terminal. Voltage is more stable and seems a little cooler but still pretty warm. Drove the car about 80 miles with no issues so far. Thanks for the help
Click to expand...
 
Sounds good, FWIW I’ve seen references to normal running temps for these alternators running in the 180-230 degree range.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top