Old Alternator: '89 Nissan 240sx KA24E 80 amp alternator
New Alternator: '97 Nissan Quest (VG-SOMETHING?) 110 amp alternator
Valid Applications: KA24E upgrade (verfied by me), KA24DE upgrade (verified by T66240 - aka Mike Lee)
Will Not Work With: SR20 verified in February 2006. Friend tried to install one on his redtop, wouldn't fit because too large - need custom alternator bracket as well as custom pulley.

Benefits: 110 amp instead of 80 amp (or 90 amp for 95+ SE, I believe) - allows you to run electric fans, stereo, etc. Also costs anywhere between 100-200 less than a custom order 150/200amp alternator that must be shipped & then shipped back & forth if anything goes wrong.

My reason: I installed an underdrive pulley a while back, and even w/ my mild sound system it was fine. However, I have put on electric fans (dual altimas), bigger stereo system, and hid lights. Just the fans & regular bosch headlamps from pdm-racing would take up almost all of the alternator power (car would go down to 12.0-12.2 volts & lights would dim dramatically) during night time stop & go city driving. This was not even with my hid's & sound system yet.

Balance: underdrive pulley is estimated around 3-4 hp for n/a & 7-8 hp for turbo last time I checked. 110amp from 80amp is a loss of .77 hp from the freshalloy thread; so, it is still a benefit w/o too much sacrifice.

Install:

0) Disconnect negative battery terminal - take out the whole battery if you have it in your engine bay, makes it much easier (I have mine in the trunk).

1) First off, as per FSM, remove your pulley belts, then the alternator. There are 3 plugs that are attached to the back of the alternator: a small 8mm bolt holding the ground wire, and a 10mm nut holding down the power wire & some other wires, and lastly the electrical connector that needs to be pushed down then pulled out - I did so w/ a screwdriver since it was pretty stuck.

Then there are the 2 bolts - 12mm on top, and 14mm on bottom.

I navigated the alternator toward the radiator and put it down on the floor.

2) Prep the Nissan Quest alternator by drilling out the bottom mount holes to 3/8" - actually slightly larger.

3) Prep the electrical connector w/ a 3/8" drill also - pretty sure it was 3/8", haha - the one coupled w/ the power wire in the engine bay to that threading also so it will fit over the bolt on the alternator. This was the part that I finally understood from the freshalloy post after not being able to get it to fit. The nut that goes over these connectors is 13mm.

4) Install in reverse order. Install will be much easier if you can remove your fan & shroud to get them out of the way. The quest alternator is slightly larger. We were able to pull it up leaving the altima fans in after 30 minutes of trial & error, then pure luck.

5) Use the inside 3 ribs of the 4 ribs on the Quest alternator.

6) Start your new baby up.

Impressions:

Before:
- 13.5 volts cruising w/ headlights on
- 12.0-12.2 volts stop & go in city w/ headlights (dimming at low speeds) & 1 of 2 fans going @ 700-750 rpm, some stuttering in the car.
- won't even handle headlights w/ both fans going (climate control didn't make much of a difference, raise in rpms but that was just enough to get the climate control running).

After:
- 13.9-14.0 volts cruising w/ headlights on
- 13.9 volts stop & go w/ 1 fan on & headlights bright as they should be
- 13.5 volts w/ headlights normal & both fans going @ idle (700-750 rpm)
- w/ climate control going & above, the volts do drop down to around 12.5, but idle was relatively low still (700rpm), something I need to fix - this test was done w/o driving the car around, just in the driveway.

This was only done today, so those are the best #'s/tests I can run @. No stereo was being played since it is currently stripped because of pending projects.

this leads to -> ability to install my hid's, hi-flow fuel pump, big stereo again, etc w/o power loss.

Not bad considering the quest alternator costs 25 dollars less than the ka24 alternator.

Comparsion (quest on right):

Hope this article helps some ppl like me.

Thanks.

Some Aftermath:

Left Arm:

Right Arm:

Tight clearances own me.

Modified by brokeAs240sx at 10:32 PM 8/20/2005

Modified by brokeAs240sx at 10:08 AM 9/22/2005

Modified by brokeAs240sx at 5:47 PM 2/21/2006

can you tell me what kind of alternator we got? and whether this project apply to us?

nice writeup by the way

Basically, the KA alternator will bolt up (the one tried in fresh alloy was ka24de alt) w/ some modification - drill out the top hole (bore through instead of threaded). However, the pulley needs to be changed from ka to sr. This is the step that worries me a little.

On the KA swap, you do not replace the pulley because the ka pulley will rub against the alternator, but that may not be an issue w/ the sr pulley. Plus, the KA uses the inner 3 ribs of the alternator of the 4.

So, this may still be a direct bolt on for the sr given that you can successfully use the outer 3 ribs or if the sr20 pulley works, which theoretically solves the problem. Hehe, one easy way to find out!

At the very least, you can find an affordable backup replacement by getting KA alternators as long as your sr pulley is fine.

If you feel frisky, you can also try what I did w/ the same steps above, plus bore out the top bracket & use the outer 3 ribs as opposed to inner 3 ribs. I love auto parts store return policies. I'll even help you work on it if you decide to do it sometime after Labor Day.

This is one of those things I hope I don't forget when my alt goes out. Mods can you sticky this to my forehead?

I believe the E & DE are interchangeable, they are so damn similar, haha. Don't take my word for it though.

And just for reference about part #'s, autozone has 2 part #'s for the same (basically) alternator for the 97 quest. All s13's are 80amp, so I don't see why they would change anything (doesn't make sense from a manufacturing point of view).

Glad it's helping some ppl

This one's going into an article for safekeeping.

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Ok, to clear things up for everyone, I talked to T66240 (Mike Lee).

His install was on a KA24DE.

Sooooo, basically here is what we have:

KA24E, KA24DE are tried and true swappable with Nissan Quest Alternator. Pulley size is the same (or very very very similar in dimension) w/ the exception of the 4 ribs.

SR20DE(T) is tried and true swappable w/ KA24DE alternator from several Fresh Alloy members.

So use the transitive property and you will see SR20DE(T) also will swap w/ the Quest Alternator (actual implementation details may vary w/ the pulley install part).

Now for the CA18 & RB & VG swap ppl, there's no love for you, HAHAHAHA .

Thanks for the confirmation!

What I did to get it to clear is behind the pulley there was a lip right around the outside of the bearing where the case was basically thicker there (poke out towards the pulley).

I just used an angle grinder to take the 1/8" or less lip off and now it clears without any problem and have been running it for 2 years with no schreded belts. This might be a solution if people have the SR pulley hit on the quest alt. This might be a have to do on some brands of alternators.

- Rebuilt (by yours truly) KA24E, stock specs.
- Centerforce DF clutch
- Ghetto eBay air filter
- Removed AIV
- Synthetic tranny / diffy fluid
- And a whole lotta love

I've driven on it for months now, and it's still fine. Been through one autox school day too, and I came out alive, hehe. The ribs don't jump or anything if your asking that - the 3 ribs are still on the main crank pulley, so that keeps everything in line.

Also an update. 3/8" drill may be a lil too small for drilling the connector... maybeee - another member did it and informed me you may have to use a 25/64" ??? I don't know tho, I just remember using 3/8... maybe different on diff cars.

very important. Some of aftermarket Alternator (like one i bought) will not fit in unless you cut bunch of stuff.

Quote, originally posted by brokeAs240sx »

Now for the CA18 & RB & VG swap ppl, there's no love for you, HAHAHAHA .

*******! I have a KA alt on my RB20

Does not fit SR20DET, without modification. Atleast not my S14 SR. After about 2 days of cutting, grinding, and welding, I ended up with a make shift custom bracket from the stock bracket. The Alternator required quite a bit of grinding in order to make it move properly to tension the belt. Not a mod for the novice.

However, the trade off is great. 14.2 volts at 1500 rpm. This is with defroster, heater full blast, headlights, and 12 inch FAL fan running... if idle with just heater, 14.6 volts. Before with the stock SR alternator, the max voltage I'd ever see is 13.6 volts, never higher regardless of what I do.

Yep, they are the same plugs.

Yea, I updated the thread a month or so back stating that we tried to bolt it up to an sr and it wouldn't work.

So you didn't have to use a custom pulley? We measured it and the quest one doesn't line up w/ the sr one - but I would guess your bracket took care of that... Making more of those brackets should rake in quite a bit of money from the sr ppl .

The only other thing is that 14.6 sounds kind of odd... mine @ highest is 14.2, usually 14.0-14.1 in the morning at idle.

As for the pulley, not lining up, you're right, it took some grinding of the alternator for that to line up correctly.

All I did was set both alternators on their pulleys and measured how much needed to be grounded off of the Quest alternator, still a lot of cutting and welding of the top plate needed to be done. That metal bushing made up the difference of the grinding on the bottom mount. (if anyone knows what I'm talking about).

"Horsepower sells cars, torque wins races" - Carroll Shelby

"Horsepower is the force that determines how fast you hit the wall. Torque is the force that determines how far you take the wall with you after you hit it." - Unknown

"Real cars don't make power at the front wheels....they lift them."

Well, the alternator I got was listed for a few years, and for the Nissan Pathfinder too I thinkkkk. The only way to know is to check for it on autozone or something & see if the same part #'s go up. Or just wing it and try, hee hee.

My quest alternator still running strong by the way .

Super old alternator output: 11.4v
should be around : 12.9v
after swap: 14.4v

I don't have any sound system in my car, but still happy

_______________________Because If She's Not Topless You're Not Having Fun____________________

Just a quick note

Also, any other alternators that could be used?

Modified by PantherRacer at 10:20 PM 8/6/2006

Please let us know if there are any install problems one you get it ... I.E. fitment and so on .... Also are you putting it in an S13 or S14?

-Aaron

Oh, I have a '93 S13 with the redtop S13 SR, Dual Audi fans push some serious CFM's but also draws more amps than I'd like. I also have a bunch of electronic gadgets to add to the current draw.