Started noticing some noise coming from my alternator last night, thought it was belt squeel, cleaned them up then I drove it about 120 miles and the noise was still there when I got home. Today I dig deeper. Sounds like bearings. So I investigate, yep, bearing noise. Since it was 9pm and no parts stores were open, I cracked open the alternator housing and inspected the bearings. The front pulley bearing sounds fine with no play and when I put the stator back in I can hear the rough noise so it must be the rear bearing. There was no excessive dust or shavings or anything inside and the bearing had grease, so I put a dab more grease in the bearings with my finger and re***embled & reinstalled the alternator (Delco 10SI, 63amp, 3-wire) When I started up the truck, the alternator sounded worse, uh oh. It's still charging and everything, but I guess it didn't like being taken apart. So, now it's 10pm. I grab the fresh alternator off my gal's '53 Chevy project with 0 miles. It's an Ultima 01-0169 (listed for '65 Chevy C-10) Same basic configuration as my 10SI, but a different rear case design. Still clocked the same as my 10SI though. So I go to install this alternator, but I don't know where the "ground" is on this one and nothing is marked. There is a threaded 5/16" hole in the rear of the housing but about 2" inward and a small male threaded terminal on the housing oppsite end of the BAT terminal. Since my 10SI doesn't have anything extra like that, and the ground is right at the edge of the housing and is grounded through the spacer sleeve, I figure I'll just install it and see if it will charge...atleast to get me to the parts house or alternator/starter shop tomorrow. I start it up, shows to be charging at 14-ish volts at idle with no load. I put a load on it with high beams, radio, heater on high. At idle it's showing 9-10 volts. I jump back inside and now I'm hearing electrical whine through the speakers, which it never did with my 10SI alternator. Is this noise because of the lack of ground? How do I ground the damn thing? I just want to make sure I can run into town a few miles without any issues other than the speaker whine. Don't want to burn anything up. I plan to go to the parts store or to the alternator shop and after getting mine replaced/rebuilt, then I'll swap it back in the parking lot and be on my merry way. FYI: My 10SI is wired with the BAT terminal going to the battery positive, #1 goes to keyed ignition, and #2 is jumped to the BAT terminal. Been charging great for years, still charging great. Since the 10-1069 alternator has the same configuration and same clocking, I just wired it up the same figuring it would work fine. Only difference is the alternator ground on the back of the housing is not connected because I don't know which one it is. Sorry for the long post, just want to be detailed. Any advice is nice!
Is there any chance you could swap just the rear bearing from one into the other? One other thought, is the "new" alternator that you swapped in also internally regulated? If the new alt is listed for a 1965 then I would think it would be externally regulated, and if that is the case then the wiring would not be the same (you would need to wire in an external regulator). An unregulated alt will boil the battery and there is the risk of overheating some of the wiring (and potential for fire) I would think.
If you can't get if figured out tomorrow, I got the day off, I can swing by and pick ya up and take you to a parts store. I got the day off and have lived here over a year and still haven't had a chance to stop by. I'm gonna be swinging by carquest in the morning to buy a fuel pump for a friend's 52 chevy, so it won't be out of my way. PM if you want, I'll give you my cell number.
Yeah, I think that's the problem. I think the internally regulated came out around '73 so anything for a '65 would require the external regulator.
Yep, that's the issue. I didn't even think of that. Well, looks like I'll be taking "29tx" up on his offer to hitch a ride to the parts store, haha. Thanks Borntoloze!
1oldtimer, thats exactly it. Thanks. 29tx is hauling me down to the parts store tomorrow to grab another alternator. I'll save mine and toss a rebuild kit in it and put it on my shelf for future use or just use it on my ol lady's '53. Thanks.
The Jalopy Journal
