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6.5 to 5.9 Cummins Alternator Help

S

Scholioso

Active Member
Messages
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Location
Ca
Hey guys,

As some of you are aware, I'm in the middle of a swap. I've been scouring the interwebs for information & everyone says they use this unit or that unit, but no one really goes into detail as to how they use it. I ordered a Dakota Digital unit to run the tach off the alternator, but abandoned that idea & will be using the dakota digital unit to read the crank position sensor as the rpm input for the transmission controller.

So now heres my issue. I don't see why a 6.5 or other GM "4 pin" alternator can't be adapted to the cummins? The hardest part would be the lower mount. The upper mount is easy as you can just fabricate an upper swinging arm. Has anybody actually put a 6.5 alt on a 5.9? I was looking at putting a CS144 onto it. Ideas? Will the cummins pulley off the dodge alt bolt up to the CS144?

I did purchase an internal regulator for the dodge alternator, but I believe the dodge alt I have is bad (bearing grinds. passes alt tests tho)

Another question. To those that have done this swap & did use the dodge alt, how did you wire it up? Did you have to run a wire from an ignition source to the alt? The volt meter to the alt? Tach?

If any one has ideas as to what I should do, please let me know. Unfortunately I'm running out of both time & money with this build. I'll be moving soon & gotta get the truck done sooner than later. Cheaper the better ( I know, I know. )

Thanks.
 
You might want to try 4bt website as they are mostly diesel conversion types over there they know what works and what doesn't.

DENSO alternators do come in one wire configuration so no remote regulator is needed, Dakota digital makes all the interfaces.
Alt brackets are generally fabricated or spend big $$$ on some conversion brackets.
 
So I actually was messing around with the dodge alternator & I found some issues. The alternator grinds when it spins, & the pulley was bigger than I believe it's supposed to be. I compared it to a off the shelf alternator for a 96 3500 & it had a much smaller pulley. So I found an alternator off craigslist that was almost new. Picked it up for $60. Tested good at the local O'Reilly's 3 times. So for now I'm going to try running the stock dodge alt. I purchased a dakota digital unit to read the tach signal off of the crank position sensor for the transmission controller which will share it with the tachometer gauge.
 
Make sure your tachometer adapter is meant to run an alternator driven tachometer if you're using a diesel cluster. Most tach adapters put out a regular 4, 6, or 8 cyl output, the alternator driven tach requires roughly 4x as many pulses per engine revolution than an 8 cylinder outputs.
 
THEFERMANATOR said:
Make sure your tachometer adapter is meant to run an alternator driven tachometer if you're using a diesel cluster. Most tach adapters put out a regular 4, 6, or 8 cyl output, the alternator driven tach requires roughly 4x as many pulses per engine revolution than an 8 cylinder outputs.
Click to expand...

Ok, so I'm a little confused as to what you mean. The adapter I'll be using is the Dakota Digital DSL-1E. From my understanding, I will be able to use the crank position sensor off the 12v cummins to run the original 6.5 tachometer?
 
Scholioso said:
Ok, so I'm a little confused as to what you mean. The adapter I'll be using is the Dakota Digital DSL-1E. From my understanding, I will be able to use the crank position sensor off the 12v cummins to run the original 6.5 tachometer?
Click to expand...
The DSL-1E taps into the "W" terminal inside the Denso alternator and then too the 6.5 diesel cluster to interface "6.5 diesel TACH". Did you even read the directions that came with the DSL-1E?
 
FellowTraveler said:
The DSL-1E taps into the "W" terminal inside the Denso alternator and then too the 6.5 diesel cluster to interface "6.5 diesel TACH". Did you even read the directions that came with the DSL-1E?
Click to expand...

Yes I did. According to others who have done this swap, they have used the crank position sensor on the cummins without issues. If you go to Dakota Digital's website, they state:

"Able to receive a signal from the "W" terminal found on some diesel alternators, a timing gear (crank trigger) signal or a fly-wheel sensor, the DSL-1E is fully adjustable to allow for calibration to your gauge of choice. "

Speaking with Dakota Digital, they said they would use the crank position sensor over the alternator W terminal as there is less electrical interference. The alternator has a lot going on where as the crank position sensor does not. Hence why I was asking for Ferm to clarify. I'm receiving mixed information. That's all.

Sorry for the confusion.
 
Scholioso said:
Yes I did. According to others who have done this swap, they have used the crank position sensor on the cummins without issues. If you go to Dakota Digital's website, they state:

"Able to receive a signal from the "W" terminal found on some diesel alternators, a timing gear (crank trigger) signal or a fly-wheel sensor, the DSL-1E is fully adjustable to allow for calibration to your gauge of choice. "

Speaking with Dakota Digital, they said they would use the crank position sensor over the alternator W terminal as there is less electrical interference. The alternator has a lot going on where as the crank position sensor does not. Hence why I was asking for Ferm to clarify. I'm receiving mixed information. That's all.

Sorry for the confusion.
Click to expand...
No need to be sorry about anything, its a learning process doing any conversion and you are using the proper unit......good luck w/your build.
 
Scholioso said:
Ok, so I'm a little confused as to what you mean. The adapter I'll be using is the Dakota Digital DSL-1E. From my understanding, I will be able to use the crank position sensor off the 12v cummins to run the original 6.5 tachometer?
Click to expand...
My concern is most tachometers for gas engines only get 2-4 pulses per crankshaft revolution, the 6.5 diesel's tach receives roughly 12 pulses per crankshaft revolution. So make sure your tach adapter is capable of outputting a signal with that many pulses.
 
What HVAC water inlet & alt mount bracket configuration are you using on the 6bt? Perhaps post an image!

The GM gen/alt is not a hard project to do and it will interface quite nicely with your conversion. You need to measure the shaft diameter and taper on the Dodge & GM gen/alts from there you need to determine what ratio you need to drive the GM gen/alt off the Dodge Cummins balancer in other words measure the diameter of the Cummins balancer on the peak of the groves then compare that to the GM balancer diameter to determine what diameter 8 grove gen/alt drive pulley needs to be.
 
Alrighty guys, I said screw it, I'll figure out the GM alternator another time. Running the dodge alt with an external regulator, but I think I have a problem. Somewhere I have a parasitic draw. So I have to find that. But also, I dont think the external regulator is working. I wired it IAW all the internet specs.

At idle, it puts out roughly 11 to 12 volts. When I rev it, it jumps up to 14 to 15 & the instrument cluster starts almost pulsing. Is there anyway to test the regulator? This is one of the reasons I didnt want to use a dodge alt. I hear the regulators are junk & go out constantly.
 
You must use regulator # C8313 because the Denso rotor draws 7 to 10 amps while the other regulators were designed for old school alternators that would draw only 4 amps.........
 
Scholioso said:
Alrighty guys, I said screw it, I'll figure out the GM alternator another time. Running the dodge alt with an external regulator, but I think I have a problem. Somewhere I have a parasitic draw. So I have to find that. But also, I dont think the external regulator is working. I wired it IAW all the internet specs.

At idle, it puts out roughly 11 to 12 volts. When I rev it, it jumps up to 14 to 15 & the instrument cluster starts almost pulsing. Is there anyway to test the regulator? This is one of the reasons I didnt want to use a dodge alt. I hear the regulators are junk & go out constantly.
Click to expand...
Dodge regulators die because of heat and mostly w/Cummins conversions the wrong part number is commonly used which is not designed for the denso alternators rotor draw.

SEE:
 
Ok so I have one that looks like it without the adjustable on the back. It's a "Standard VR125". Does anyone local sell the C8313 or is it an internet special?
 
Mine is pulsing. Headlights and dash lights. You can hear it at idle too. It's because the regulator is not getting a clean power reading from the battery. I spurred off another subsystem for ignition switched power to the regulator an it's not happy. If I jump a wire from the battery direct to the regulator it smooths out. I need to run a nice relay switched power supply from the battery direct to the regulator.
 
So here's how I wired it. I tested my regulator IAW the video above. I got like 5.84, so I dont think it's right. However, I'd like to double check that I actually wired this correctly. The blue & green wire attach to the alternator two small terminals & the white wire is an ignition wire that ties into the blue wire which goes into the voltage regulator. The regulator is grounded to the fender. One of the mounting screws also has a wire that runs directly to the battery negative.
 

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Sand said:
Mine is pulsing. Headlights and dash lights. You can hear it at idle too. It's because the regulator is not getting a clean power reading from the battery. I spurred off another subsystem for ignition switched power to the regulator an it's not happy. If I jump a wire from the battery direct to the regulator it smooths out. I need to run a nice relay switched power supply from the battery direct to the regulator.
Click to expand...
The relay should fix it however; it's critical that the right regulator "C8313" is used and trimmed (adjusted) to 1.75/1.76 using the ohm meter method ONLY.

In alternative a single wire alternator GM or Denso will eliminate the issues.
 
Scholioso said:
So here's how I wired it. I tested my regulator IAW the video above. I got like 5.84, so I dont think it's right. However, I'd like to double check that I actually wired this correctly. The blue & green wire attach to the alternator two small terminals & the white wire is an ignition wire that ties into the blue wire which goes into the voltage regulator. The regulator is grounded to the fender. One of the mounting screws also has a wire that runs directly to the battery negative.
Click to expand...
Your regulator is way out of spec of "1.75/1.76" for the Denso alternator, the ground from the regulator should be to the alternator case and alternator case ground to battery.

The video links I submitted link to other videos relating to the installing of his kit. I had posted his link simply because he is the only one who has noted the problems fixes and "part number" for the Cummins Denso into conversions.
 
Are these problems only related to the denso alternator? If I had a remanufactured one from Remy, would that make a difference? I will rewire the regulator to be as you specify, but just out of curiosity, couldn't I leave my wiring & just run a ground from the alternator case to the bat negative & get the same effect? They are then both grounded directly to the battery negative which from what I understand, can't really get a better ground than that.
 
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