Mirrorimg's build thread
- Thread starter mirrorimg
- Start date
mirrorimg
Well-Known Member
Yep. Too bad they arent more common.
There was a 4 door at the yard, but it was tan. Bummer. I dont plan on getting a black dash if I cant get everything else in one fell swoop.
I had a bear of a weekend with this alternator business. The yard had a bunch of Legends, and I went for the one with the fewest miles. I ended up stripping the lower bolt and had to move on to the NEXT one with a few more miles. I think the one I got it off of had 185k. The highest I saw was 305k miles. I didnt realize that the motors were V6's but glad the starter was mounted to the front of the engine. Taking off the accessory belts was all that was needed (along with the upper bracket) to get the monster out.
I didnt realize it until I was cleaning it up, but it wasnt the OEM unit, it was a reman'd unit. Dont know why the horizontal lines are wavy, my phones camera decided to distort it a bit.
Getting the old one out
Side by side
The Legend alt has a 4 groove pulley while the Integra has a 3 groove pulley. That meant they had to be swapped, and let me tell you it was a pain. I drilled a hole in the integra pulley and put a screw into the guts. It's certainly ruined, but all I needed was the pulley. I cut the Legend pulley in half, to get a hold of the nut with a wrench, and hold the end with another. It was a pain, but I got it done.
The other issue was mounting it. I disconnected the fuel rail to get some extra room, and put the new one right down the same hole. I had to trim my timing cover a little, but I have extras. The problem was the upper bracket. I will take a picture of it when I pull the motor to swap the block next, but I had to hack it up a bit because the top mounting hole was a little different from the OEM alternator. I had to open up some holes, use a few washers, and do some grinding to get it to work. She purrs now though.
mirrorimg
Well-Known Member
Samurai_Blue
Yolo Whippin'
damnnn! looooks good jason
mirrorimg
Well-Known Member
Engine bay took a little beating. You can see the scratched on the strut tower from me sliding the alternator in and out. :lol:
She needs to get cleaned up and I need to re-do some wiring.
- My oil pressure gauge shows a value even without the car running. I think its getting some residual voltage from a bad ground.
- A couple of lights in my climate control are out and need to be replaced.
- I need to see if there is a current draw coming from any accessories. When I get out of the car and touch the door, I almost always get shocked.
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mirrorimg
Well-Known Member
My alternator/battery light has been on since I put in the legend alt. Did some research and determined it could be a few things:
My battery is bad
The alternator ground, which is its body bolted to the block, is a poor connection. (highly doubt this is the prob)
The voltage regulator in the alt is bad.
I'm thinking its the voltage regulator, but not that its bad. Since this came out of a legend, I'm guessing the belt/pulley has something to do with it. The section on the crank pulley is for the alt belt on the integra is quite large. I'm guessing the spot on the legends crank pulley was not as large and therefore the alt had to spin less to generate power. With the integration crank pulley, the alternator turns more with ever rotation of the crank, pushing out more voltage.
Some testing showed about 15 volts at the battery at idle, and 16 or so when I open the throttle. There is a slight peak after the throttle is released, let's say 16.2v. Not sure what the battery can handle over a long period, but I'm thinking that's a bit too much power. I may open up my original alt and try to swap over the voltage regulator. Probably going to start a new thread for this alternator issue.
My battery is bad
The alternator ground, which is its body bolted to the block, is a poor connection. (highly doubt this is the prob)
The voltage regulator in the alt is bad.
I'm thinking its the voltage regulator, but not that its bad. Since this came out of a legend, I'm guessing the belt/pulley has something to do with it. The section on the crank pulley is for the alt belt on the integra is quite large. I'm guessing the spot on the legends crank pulley was not as large and therefore the alt had to spin less to generate power. With the integration crank pulley, the alternator turns more with ever rotation of the crank, pushing out more voltage.
Some testing showed about 15 volts at the battery at idle, and 16 or so when I open the throttle. There is a slight peak after the throttle is released, let's say 16.2v. Not sure what the battery can handle over a long period, but I'm thinking that's a bit too much power. I may open up my original alt and try to swap over the voltage regulator. Probably going to start a new thread for this alternator issue.
endo617
Rattle Can Technician
thats crazy 16v, this is the only battery i found that can handle 16v's, good with founding a solution
mirrorimg
Well-Known Member
Im certainly not going to upgrade the battery, something else is surely wrong. I cant exactly return it and get a new one, as I hacked the pulley up, and the integra pulley is currently on it. I could go back and pull another, then hope for the best again (I would leave the stock legend pulley on it for a couple minutes, to make sure the battery light doesnt come on) but with that I would have to spend another $30.
I plan on taking the Integra voltage regulator out tomorrow after work to see what differences there are, and if I can use the integra's VR in the Legend. Time to hunt down information.
endo617
Rattle Can Technician
sounds like the best route to go, good luck, interested in how it turns out bro
mirrorimg
Well-Known Member
The pictures are of "Standard Motor Products" branded voltage regulators. The pictures are NOT of OEM parts, though I have the OEM part number listed. The Legend has a VR590 and the Integra a VR598. The design looks identical between the two. I know there is SOME difference, because why would you make different parts for the same item. I also want to note that the OBD2 alternators used a different plug, so I dont think you 96+ guys would be able to consider this swap, unless the VR swap works.
91-95 Legend VG
31150-PR7-J01 (oem part#)
94-01 Integra VG
31150-P1E-003 (oem part#)
Now I just have to hope my car doesnt explode before the weekend! :shock:
91-95 Legend VG
31150-PR7-J01 (oem part#)
94-01 Integra VG
31150-P1E-003 (oem part#)
Now I just have to hope my car doesnt explode before the weekend! :shock:
mirrorimg
Well-Known Member
Went ahead and swapped the voltage regulators (VG) today. After installing I grabbed my trusty multimeter and did some testing. The car turned on fine. Unfortunately, I was showing 11.9-12v with it running. I figured the VG just wasnt compatible I revved it a couple times and nothing changed. Turning on my headlights and fog lights dropped the voltage to about 11.4-11.5v. I turned off the car and went to take the blasted thing out again. I realized I hadnt plugged in the green plug and got excited. Connecting that plug fixed the low voltage It now reads a steady 14.4v when running. The swap worked like a charm. The voltage regulator in the Integra's alternator was good and the voltage is where it needs to be now, no more ABS nor Battery light on.
I didnt have to jack up the car at all either, I managed to do it all from the top. Before, I was tightening the lower nut from underneath but this time I weaseled my arm underneath to give it a few good turns.
Pictures are of the disassembly after taking the back cover off.
This has the voltage regulator removed, and you can see the two, old and new, above the alternator.
I revved it a couple times and nothing changed. Turning on my headlights and fog lights dropped the voltage to about 11.4-11.5v. I turned off the car and went to take the blasted thing out again. I realized I hadnt plugged in the green plug and got excited. Connecting that plug fixed the low voltage It now reads a steady 14.4v when running. The swap worked like a charm. The voltage regulator in the Integra's alternator was good and the voltage is where it needs to be now, no more ABS nor Battery light on.I didnt have to jack up the car at all either, I managed to do it all from the top. Before, I was tightening the lower nut from underneath but this time I weaseled my arm underneath to give it a few good turns.
Pictures are of the disassembly after taking the back cover off.
This has the voltage regulator removed, and you can see the two, old and new, above the alternator.
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mirrorimg
Well-Known Member
Thanks Jordan. I will have some info on how it performs when I go out today, and drive around when its dark.Im glad everything worked out great man. :thumbs up
In for more updates