Thread: PowerMaster Alternators

Time for an alternator upgrade, old one is going so why not.... My stock 00' Buick Regal GS Alt at 102-105amp is weak from the start but held up...I can't lie about that.

Now GM/ACdelco makes quality parts and my stock alternator has lasted me 145k miles with probably a few thousand left, but this PowerMaster 150amp direct replacement Alt is guaranteed to last just as long but with the benefit of about 50amps more over stock.

Any thoughts about PowerMaster Alternators? They're made in the U.S.A. ever since 1981 and seem to have good quality. Im not sure if PowerMaster is actually a down grade in quality/craftmen's ship compared to GM/ACdelco but I'll definitely rather take quality over an extra 50amps.


Thanks, Dee....

Honestly, Powermaster has been around the off road world for years. Their reputation is so so. I have heard plenty of bad stuff about them. When I wanted to ugrade, I found it was cheaper to find a local starter / alternator repair shop and had them build my alternator. It was significantly cheaper and they built it for what I wanted it to do.

So in other words a OEM GM/ACdelco would have better quality and would probably have Longevity?

Bill was telling me that the 01' Bville alt has 125amps and would mount directly in the original Alt bolt location and also has the same pulley size/belt length. Its not 150amps but ill still take 125amps with the 01' Bville over my stock 102amps

The 04+ are higher amp and will still bolt up and plug in just fine. I have one with about 40K on it if you're interested. It's what I used on my GTP.

I ended up getting the 01' Park Ave Alt @125amps ( same as the others)

Figured I'll take the less amperage OEM ACdelco at 125amps over some aftermarket rated 150amps or more for quality and longevity. Most aftermarkets claim to have a rated amperage but don't, makes some weird noises, and either doesn't last or not work at all out the box. You may get a honest alternator from MechMan, Mean Green alts, or Excessive Amperage but even these may have problems.

Now OEM alts can have problems too, but most would agree that most OEM products would out last most aftermarket parts especially something like an alternator (but of course aftermarket rules on most performance applications).

Well anyway, my car has been running off this stock 102amp alt for years with a full stereo, HIDs, etc. So whether if my electrical system was starving or not
..this new 125amp alt will definitely relieve some electrical strain if any and it'll supply extra amperage when needed with 25amps more over stock. I should be safe though bc Im usually around 14.5v on a loaded alternator, I pretty much just went with this one bc it was the same price as my stock alt so I figured why not....25amps more!!!

But hey, ill take that alternator if its for sell. What's the amperage and would it fit a 01' regal LS non-supercharged? Lol my LS is the one with the huge crazy stereo system so I bet it would love a few more amps.

Tell them what I told you... share the low cost secret


BTW 00+ Bonnie/PA etc etc.

Lol, Junk Yard 3800 brothers.....it's a junk yard but not everything is junk. You'll save a bunch of money. And yeah there's a bunch of applications with the 125amp alt you just gotta make sure you get the right one (like 01'-05' Impala alt comes 105amp or 125amp) but I believe the 01' bonnie and Park ave both exclusively use the 125amp alt (some models even had a 140amp option I believe) but yeah they're all interchangeable where applicable

Stock Delco will be better than aftermarket. F-bodies are notorious for chewing through their 102a alternators (esp with the cooling fans they run). My wife's Z28 and most of the guys I know are running 06/07 Escalade, truck, etc alternators that are 145-160 amp and they last forever. A decent OEM junkyard unit is always a good option if you know if will fit.

Makes me want to call around and see how much I could get one rebuilt for

ive been doing the cs144 chassis 140 amp alternator "horizontal bolt" upgrades for a while now.

its the best at idle power output, and aside from the 99+ fella's having to change to the older alternator bracket, and soldering the square plug pigtail on... its a pretty easy swap and gives enough room to run -8an fuel lines to my -10 rails where the 105/125 doesnt... the 140 has a recess in the bottom near the regulator that with a bit more trimming even fits the -10 lines/fitting.

also these alternators have remote voltage sensing and are able to use the battery thermister to alter charging voltage as the battery temp changes.
so if you get the 3 wire plug and the battery thermister from a riv/bonnie etc you can use those functions with a little work

the downside is the external fan is loud, but boy does the alternator run cooler than the small buggers. unlike the NVH bastards at GM i dont care about noise...i care about durability, those small alternators eat bearings like they were pistachio's

i have found that gen5 cars have to do some minor grinding of some bolts that stick out the back, and if IC'd then you have to trim off a little more.

even the charging stud is farther from the blower...

Lol, hey whatever floats ya boat, but that SUV/truck alternator sounds like it would be beefy as F*** beings though come pushing out 160amp+ and don't forget they should have upgraded options also which would be even more amps. But lets not forget that the bigger the alternator the more power it takes to spin.

Originally Posted by Turbocharged400sbc

ive been doing the cs144 chassis 140 amp alternator "horizontal bolt" upgrades for a while now.

its the best at idle power output, and aside from the 99+ fella's having to change to the older alternator bracket, and soldering the square plug pigtail on... its a pretty easy swap and gives enough room to run -8an fuel lines to my -10 rails where the 105/125 doesnt... the 140 has a recess in the bottom near the regulator that with a bit more trimming even fits the -10 lines/fitting.

also these alternators have remote voltage sensing and are able to use the battery thermister to alter charging voltage as the battery temp changes.
so if you get the 3 wire plug and the battery thermister from a riv/bonnie etc you can use those functions with a little work

the downside is the external fan is loud, but boy does the alternator run cooler than the small buggers. unlike the NVH bastards at GM i dont care about noise...i care about durability, those small alternators eat bearings like they were pistachio's

i have found that gen5 cars have to do some minor grinding of some bolts that stick out the back, and if IC'd then you have to trim off a little more.

even the charging stud is farther from the blower...

Nice, has the electrical system running smooth huh? I originally wanted a 140/150amp but this 125amp should do me good for the most part. That does look nice though, how many amps/volts you get at idle with a load on?

Well..Since James let the cat out of the bag. Having had the 97 Bonne in my past, I wasn't happy with the alt output at the reading which IIRC comes from the ICM/PCM. Adding the S or "sense" wire is a great add on. As for Gen V'ing with IC. I did swap over before I had IC'd just because. However.. here's a few pics of Gen V with that alt and some of the modification needed.



How it sits




Cleaned up the bolts that stick out of the casing.




PS ...you don't need to remove the bracket to change a rear valve cover gasket.

Hey Bill, that was a 140amp too that you had?

lol sorry bill but its a damn good upgrade, the rear vc removal is sweeet

with an IC i end up removing one support rib and half the top bolt boss in addition to removing the protruding bolts.

this is ours modified for the -10an fittings and rails, while -8lines and fittings would have cleared it fine without trimming the aluminum....Al likes to go overboard...and i figure ****it, why not, its got two drivetrains, excess is bestest


word of advice, stuff little squares of scott type rags into the holes then mask with blue masking tape pressing it into the vent holes, you can cut/grind to your hearts content and keep it clean as the tape recessed in the holes stays pretty well
just a pick to pull em out after.

btw bill

the sweetest horizontal bolt bracket is to get one for the 99 F body

BOTH elbows are replaceable unlike the integral 1" Oring bracket on the W's/early Fbody

James.. Nice to know.. thanks. On the newer alts where the output post is in the way of the Gen V, simply pull the back off, pull the spacer off the long stud that is the output post and cut it down.. then put the nut on and cut the post down. Presto.. a little plastic backing work and you clear perfectly.
BTW, did you ever see my answer to clearancing the w coil pack with an IC?
http://www.grandprixforums.net/showt...highlight=easy


And you know we just wrecked his "I paid a million dollars for a new alt" feeling. hahahaha

Originally Posted by BillBoost37

James.. Nice to know.. thanks. On the newer alts where the output post is in the way of the Gen V, simply pull the back off, pull the spacer off the long stud that is the output post and cut it down.. then put the nut on and cut the post down. Presto.. a little plastic backing work and you clear perfectly.

on that bugger ive just left the lower nut off (sleeve loose) and reinstalled, clears the plastic without trimming. thankfully everyone i end up helping are at least decent wrenches and can be trusted with odd ****/compromises

Originally Posted by BillBoost37

BTW, did you ever see my answer to clearancing the w coil pack with an IC?
http://www.grandprixforums.net/showt...highlight=easy

And you know we just wrecked his "I paid a million dollars for a new alt" feeling. hahahaha

nice solution thereive always used washers or moved it. by flipping that alum plate around and drilling 2 new holes for the ICM alignment dowels lets you shift it down and at an angle, only uses two bolts but you can use the whole iron pad.
on the TR i have two washers rtvd to the iron in those "low" areas as thats where the mounting holes ended up, never a problem with just the 2 bolts.

besides after going through 12 coils before we found 3 that didnt misfire at 13to1 afr/wot, the first and last thing done to that car is removal of the coils and install.
i am never risking breaking one of these three unicorns rofl

stereo guys are an overkill breed, i know i did, even to the point of changing my alt every 6 months...thankfully i sold all that junk before i completely lost my hearing and went for sq+

on the subject of alternators... im going to be running the rear engines alternator up to 17.8v to power the fuel pumps, maybe the ICM's working with one of e dual volt 12/16 batteries. the battery thermister circuit would let me switch between a high/low volt state (ive seen 3800's operate at nearly 18v on a couple cars with charging problems -try to make sure your sensing wire doesnt have any "issues" this has caused a couple overcharging issues ive come across.)

thats another god damn thing im finding alot lately, poor connections and voltage drops, especially on modded cars with repeated connector R/I

the banana spring on the side of the female terminals, and voltage drop through the sheetmetal spot welds on the ground side.

****. the. rust. belt.

you see some of the stupid **** ive been up to lately?

i installed/modified a GP turbo kit to work on a mint 70k 97 bonnie l36/4t60 in trade for a 208k 97 gtp heap. took a bit of sorting out but the ssei l67/65e file controls the 60 e just fine with the new bleed setup on the modulator, thankfully the 80e is an easy swap lol
figured out how to control the 90mm DBW tb with our DBW TAC...someday ill actually buy one and do it. probably on the 442 since we've decided DBW is the solution to 23 failed 18ft long throttle cable experiments.
mod'd WBS gen3 to singlepass/gen5 with diverter tongue and post core BBV passage
finally went full tilt on a motor with my oiling mods. dreams do come true lol
ive got a few mostly complete solutions to problems with the damn turbo regal...(LS4 diff mount, billet drivers side tq arm- finally get rid of the iron bracket, 2 stage pressurized surge tank, direct ICM/INJ power feed -**** the factory wiring lol)

as much as i hate this damn toyota ive been dying to swap a catera with a 3800

~rantings from a lunatic~

haha you have a good weekend bill!