Generator rebuild

Topics related to the powertrain - engines, transmissions, and related parts.
ImperialAtom
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Generator rebuild

Post by ImperialAtom »

The 57 is not charging the batter as it should. Tested it and it's barely making any additional charge, so it's likely not doing much of anything.

Have you guys had better luck buying a new generator or going with a rebuild kit? I do not want an alternator as they just look strange on a car this old, in my opinion.

slantflat
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Location: Georgia

Re: Generator rebuild?

Post by slantflat »

I would suggest taking your generator to an auto electric place and have it rebuilt. They can bump up the power a little. Also I've heard of, but never experienced, an alternator that looks like a generator. Notice I didn't say it was inexpensive.
Imike
1962 LeBaron
1956 C73

ImperialAtom
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Re: Generator rebuild?

Post by ImperialAtom »

Thanks Mike. I have seen the alternator/generator thing online and also saw how expensive it was. As much as I would be willing to give it a try... I'm not paying that price for an alternator :)

I'm trying to think of what an "auto electric place" might be, and I am not able to think of one around here. Could try a few basic auto shops, but not sure I would trust them with a generator.

slantflat
Posts: 88
Joined: Mon Jan 20, 2020 7:05 pm
Location: Georgia

Re: Generator rebuild?

Post by slantflat »

Well, in our "throw away" society I would imagine rebuilders of this sort are few and far between. Admittedly, it's been a few years since I've needed one. But I think if you can find one, it will be a shop with just a couple old guys who would be wizards at rebuilding generators and whatnot, and probably the last of their kind.

But you're right, a basic auto shop probably doesn't even know what a generator is. Good luck with it.
Imike
1962 LeBaron
1956 C73

ImperialAtom
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Re: Generator rebuild?

Post by ImperialAtom »

I might give it a shot myself. It likely just needs some new brushes, and after watching a youtube video it doesn't seem that hard. I'll take pictures and such and let everyone know how it goes. :)

slantflat
Posts: 88
Joined: Mon Jan 20, 2020 7:05 pm
Location: Georgia

Re: Generator rebuild?

Post by slantflat »

A good tech session for the forum. Lots of us in the same boat.
Imike
1962 LeBaron
1956 C73

ImperialAtom
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Re: Generator rebuild

Post by ImperialAtom »

I may not have solved my problem yet, but I did go through the process of replacing the brushes on the generator and will share those pictures here. At this point, I think the issue may be related to the voltage regulator, so will be swapping that out next to see if that solves the issue.

First point to make - I do not know if this is a factory correct generator for a 57 Imperial as there is no tag or model numbers on it. It's the one that is on this car, and so I am working with what I have.

The only parts I got were the brushes and the bearings. If you have more than this wrong with your generator, you may be better off getting a new one, may need to re-polarize or something like that - which I have no experience with. I found a brush set on RockAuto and picked up the bearing from NAPA once I had realized it needed replaced. The part number for the brushes was WVE 5A1189. The part number of the bearing was 6203RS. The guy at NAPA took one look at it as I walked up to the counter and said, "that looks like a 203 bearing". Guess that was his super power - identifying parts from afar.

First thing to do is disconnect your battery. I have a quick disconnect, so if you don't have one of those, you may want to consider getting one, they do come in handy.

Next you'll want to unbolt the generator from your engine. When you loosen the top bolt, it will likely swivel, which is ok, this is how you adjust for the belt. Just slide it all the way down to it's lowest position and the belt should pop right off. You'll probably want to take a picture of the wires and where they go before you take them off. The only bolts you'll need to remove are the one holding the wires on, then the top bolt that holds the generator in place, and then two more bolts, one at either end of the generator that hold it to the mounting bracket and allow it to swivel. You do not need to remove that mounting bracket you can see in the last picture.
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ImperialAtom
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Re: Generator rebuild

Post by ImperialAtom »

Once the generator is loose, just pick it up and take it to your workbench to begin.

First thing I did was take the metal cap off of the back side of the generator. This allows you to gain access to a center bolt that is holding things in place. Next, there were two bold to remove near the edges of the back side. These were very long bolts that travelled the length of the generator.
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ImperialAtom
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Re: Generator rebuild

Post by ImperialAtom »

Now that the bolts are out of the way, you can slide the front side out. Mine was a little stuck, so I convinced by smacking it a few good times with a large screwdriver handle. Pull that entire front along with all the inner coils and such out and set those aside.

There was some rust on mine, so I cleaned that up.
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ImperialAtom
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Re: Generator rebuild

Post by ImperialAtom »

Then smack the back side cover if it's stuck and carefully lift it off of the center housing. It is attached to the brushes, so be careful. Simply use a screw driver to disconnect it and set that aside.
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