1976 Wagoneer CS144 Mod

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ZacharyH
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1976 Wagoneer CS144 Mod

Post by ZacharyH »

I just picked up a CS144(and some other goodies) from the junkyard. CS144 is from a 94 Cadillac Deville. The pigtail that comes out of the alternator has an S, and an L terminal. I believe the S terminal should just loop to the output terminal of the alternator. For the L terminal I have heard different ideas. Some say you should wire in a 100 ohm resistor and others say its fine without the resistor. How should I wire the L terminal on the alternator? I have a 1976 Wagoneer with the yellow ammeter wire deleted and the alternator wired straight to the battery with 6 gauge cable.
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Last edited by ZacharyH on Mon Mar 01, 2021 3:49 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Topic author
ZacharyH
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Re: CS144 wiring help

Post by ZacharyH »

after some more research i came to the conclusion L needs a resistor. I purchased this adapter which has a resistor in it. This adapter is commonly used for a SI to CS conversion
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Also this pulley was not easy to get off had to heat it with a torch and pound it many times with a sledge hammer.
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Stuka
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Re: CS144 wiring help

Post by Stuka »

Glad you found the adapter you needed. Hopefully you didn't damage the bearings getting the pully off.
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Pevious Jeeps: 1981 J10, 1975 Cherokee, 2008 JK, 2005 KJ, 1989 XJ

Xplitive
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Re: 1976 Wagoneer CS144 Mod

Post by Xplitive »

If I remember correctly, the trick to overcoming the tapered collar when removing the alternator pulley is turning the pulley and fan opposite directions when putting pressure on the socket.
Erik
1989 GW, 31s on rancho front and general spring rear

Topic author
ZacharyH
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Re: 1976 Wagoneer CS144 Mod

Post by ZacharyH »

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I installed the alternator today. The pulley lines up good and it runs smooth. Unfortunately, i am not getting any charge from the alternator. Battery stays at 12.4v even when you rev the engine. I think the alternator is bad. The way i wired it (temporary) was by using the green field cable off my external voltage regulator and connecting that to the L on the harness. And for the S on the harness i jumped that to the batt+ on the back of the alternator. I thought maybe the alternator wasnt grounding to the engine but thats not the case. Im gonna pull the alternator and have it tested.

Topic author
ZacharyH
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Re: 1976 Wagoneer CS144 Mod

Post by ZacharyH »

Round 2: Went back to the junkyard, returned the bad alternator and pulled this one out of a 91 Cadillac Seville. Looks like it was just remanufactured. Its only a 120A but you cant beat it for $30. Everything is working good its producing 14.5 volts at idle. Just need new belts, right now the adjuster is maxed out and the belts are flopping.
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tgreese
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Re: 1976 Wagoneer CS144 Mod

Post by tgreese »

Looks good!
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Maine beekeeper's truck: '77 J10 LWB, 258/T15/D20/3.54 bone stock, low options (delete radio), PS/PDB, hubcaps.
Browless and proud: '82 J20 360/T18/NP208/3.73, Destination A/Ts, 7600 GVWR
Copper Polly: '75 CJ-6, 304/T15, PS, BFG KM2s, soft top
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rocklaurence
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Re: 1976 Wagoneer CS144 Mod

Post by rocklaurence »

Doesnt Jeep have a Resistive wire to excite the alternator? If so, why would you need to add the resistor? I run the GM style single wire alternators.
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tgreese
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Re: 1976 Wagoneer CS144 Mod

Post by tgreese »

A '76 with a V8 would have had the Motorcraft alternator originally. These use an external mechanical (!) regulator with the resistor internal to the regulator, as I recall.

IIRC '74 and prior Jeeps used the (less than great) Motorola alternators and solid-state regulators. The sixes got the Delco in '75 with the V8s keeping the Motorola, and the V8s got the Motorcraft for '76 and 77. The V8s finally got the Delco 10SI in 1978, again IIRC.
Tim Reese
Maine beekeeper's truck: '77 J10 LWB, 258/T15/D20/3.54 bone stock, low options (delete radio), PS/PDB, hubcaps.
Browless and proud: '82 J20 360/T18/NP208/3.73, Destination A/Ts, 7600 GVWR
Copper Polly: '75 CJ-6, 304/T15, PS, BFG KM2s, soft top
GTI without the badges: '95 VW Golf Sport 2000cc 2D
Dual Everything: '15 Chryco Jeep Cherokee KL Trailhawk, ECO Green
Blockchain the vote.
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tgreese
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Re: 1976 Wagoneer CS144 Mod

Post by tgreese »

Also, 100 ohms is way more than the resistance wire that comes in a Jeep with a 10SI. 10 ohms IIRC. Maybe the CS144 can have more resistance, or needs more to prevent back-feeding the later computerized cars.

No experience with the CS144, but the SI types have a sense wire and an excite wire, aside from the battery connection, as you describe in your first post. The sense wire on Jeeps loops back to the battery connection. The excite wire 'bootstraps' the alternator by providing a tiny current to the field at startup. After that, the alternator self-generates without any external current.
Tim Reese
Maine beekeeper's truck: '77 J10 LWB, 258/T15/D20/3.54 bone stock, low options (delete radio), PS/PDB, hubcaps.
Browless and proud: '82 J20 360/T18/NP208/3.73, Destination A/Ts, 7600 GVWR
Copper Polly: '75 CJ-6, 304/T15, PS, BFG KM2s, soft top
GTI without the badges: '95 VW Golf Sport 2000cc 2D
Dual Everything: '15 Chryco Jeep Cherokee KL Trailhawk, ECO Green
Blockchain the vote.

Topic author
ZacharyH
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Re: 1976 Wagoneer CS144 Mod

Post by ZacharyH »

I probably could have used the exciter wire coming out of the external voltage regulator unit but then I would be depending on two voltage regulators working and I would have an extra box on the fender. I removed the external voltage regulator and I just ran an extra wire from my ignition relay that I made previously. The pigtail has a 200 Ohm resistor by the way. I guess thats what the CS144 likes.
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