[jaed_43725]

I am getting the battery light on the dash. Took it to get the alternator tested but the tester said the battery is good but needs charged. Now I know from previous experience with the 88' F250 IDI I had that it could be one or both batteries. And there is no way to really know. So on that truck I converted it to a single Series 31 battery. And it made a huge difference for the better. So what I want to know, is it possible to convert a 2004 F250 to a Series 31 battery and just remove the drivers side battery and cables? If a 31 is to big physically, what is the biggest that will fit in that tray? And will a single battery give enough CCA to start the truck? I live in central NC, so cold weather is not a huge factor.

So I went and got 2 batteries instead of a single conversion. Only because nobody had any info for a single conversion. But the battery light was flashing while accelerating and stays on when idle or driving at constant speed. So it has to be the alternator. What a pain to get that thing off.

 

[drew7924]

Pull the belt from the passenger side with your hand and there is a clip by the tensioner you can rotate that will lock the tensioner. Slide the belt off the alt...3 bolts, 1 nut and a wire connector the use a screw driver again to flip the catch and the belt snaps tight.

 

[drew7924]

I'd be curious what your battery volts are with the truck running. Just had my batt light come on and my gauges showed like 11.5v which obviously to low. Tested the alt had a bad voltage reg. Replaced the alt and its been fine

 

[ZMANN]

Agreed I took off my alternator yesterday to swap regulators pulled the belt locked the kickstand hooked belt with bungee so it did not fall off the pulleys alt back on pull belt done
20 minutes later fired it back up

 

[jaed_43725]

I used the kickstand thing. I watched a YouTube video of it. But I have rather large forearms, so it made getting to the kickstand a pain. I am going to release it from the kickstand though while I wait for my new alternator to get in. I got a US made, not rebuilt, large body 140A one from USA Built High Output Alternator, Upgrades, Parts, Kits

 

[ZMANN]

i have big forearms also but i use a long prybar to get to the kickstand no way would my hand fit in there

Post on how that company treats you
I bought a voltage regulator from them and it was crap I need to talk to them about a refund

 

[jaed_43725]

I will. I also posted the alternator on another thread someone started a long time ago. So I will try and post both places.

 

[ZMANN]

I just reached out them about the regulator I bet I either don't hear back or like the last contact it will be weeks
and my phone call was never returned

i pull the belt with my left hand and reach the kickstand with a harbor freight long prybar
you need a good light in the vicinity also

 

[jokester00]

I tried the kickstand thing when I changed my alternator out a few weeks back. Couldn't ever get the belt pulled far enough back to rotate the tensioner assembly enough where the kickstand would actually hold it up to do it's job...

Ended up pulling the alternator off by removing the 2 front bolts, then put pressure on the back of the alternator as I removed the back bolt till the pulley rotated down and I slid the belt off. Got my brother in law's help with re-installation. He took as much tension off the tensioner assembly using a long ratchet as I worked the belt back on the alternator and applied pressure to the back of the alternator to get it in place to reinstall the bolts.

-jokester

 

[ZMANN]

You have to pull the belt down closer to the tensioner than the alternator to get enough tensioner travel

 

[kcoyner]

I've changed out an Alternator in the parking lot of parts store with almost no tools. It's not that big of a deal.

k

 

[jaed_43725]

Finally got the alternator changed. I could not pull the belt enough to get enough slack to put it over the alternator. And any one that says they just do that needs a new tensioner. Really they need to come up with a turnbuckle design and get rid of that style tensioner. So since I could not pull it enough I finally found the stupid little square hole where you can use a torque wrench or belt tool into. They even messed up that location. And I finally was able to push that enough to get it to have enough slack that my kid could push the belt on. And even then I had the inside tensioner and the pulley below that have the belt a little off. So I bumped it a few times and it all came in line. Let it warm up a bit, checked the bolts (torque spec is 35 ft/lb), drove it a bit, and let it all warm up, check the bolts again. So I am going to get a proper belt tool.

 

[kcoyner]

Hahahah, Maybe it just depends on how pissed you are, where you are, and how much its gonna cost for a tow from where you are. In my case it was with a trailer about 100 miles through the mountains. Anyhow, I was pizzed but I gotter done. When I saved up some money I purchased a DC 270amp. A little while later I had some more saved and bought a wire upgrade kit and some AGM batteries. No problems since.

k

 

[jaed_43725]

What wire kit did you get and did you find it very complete or was it missing anything that would be added?

 

[6riders]

I use a 1/2" ratchet to relieve the tensioner... Not that hard, put it in the square hole, use a wrench or cheater for leverage and release the tension (to the passenger side IIRC).
You need to replace the tensioner asap too.... Not something to skimp on.

Sent from my Redmi Note 9 Pro using Tapatalk

 

[TooManyToys]

LOL. I have flipped alternators so many times which testing different ones and changing pulley sizes, with a tensioner that had a broken kickstand.

With a stock sized case alternator, it's easy to do the angled alternator flip. As you go up in case size, for me, a stock pulley w/140a may need the tensioner moved with a wrench, and the undersize can be levered. You go to a 200a+ case size; any pulley needs the tension moved with a wrench.

If you're running a stator, you most likely need the specialized, thin tensioner wrench to not go insane.

I hadn't had this happen, but someone on another forum got the idea to put a pry bar into the rear alternator bolt hole to lever it over and broke the alternator case, so fair warning.