04 Sequoia’s 150 amp Alternator Swap on a 00 Tundra + The 3 Big upgrades

So what happens if you don't order the bolt and don't cut the ear off?

 

I guess the ear would just sit against the block?

 

Is there any benefit to upgrading to 150A if I don't want to mess with the big 3? The OP says those cables are not cheap.

It sounds like I don't need to chop off the 3rd ear so long as I buy those OEM parts.

 

Picture the cables as a straw. While the alternator will be a reservoir for more power, the amount to flow is limited to the size of your "straw", i.e. the fatness of your cables. Thing is, given you have a 100A now, and I believe 120A or 130A was an option for your year, your existing cabling may already support the flow a 130A alternator would put out. Will it support the 150A? I dunno. But also realize that those are peak values too. This may be a shitty or imprecise explanation, but it's the best I can do with visualizations.

The only thing that ever concerns me about stuff like this is heat. With power transfer comes heat, and your conductor can & will heat up under load, especially with resistance to said flow. The fatter your cable, the less resistance, I think, and thus the less heat? I haven't had any caffeine or food this morning, so don't expect me to brain. Let the zapmaster @bmf4069 explain that one or one of the EEs on here if I'm getting it wrong.

 

From what I can tell, even the 150 amp sequoias from the factory have a similar charge wire like our trucks. The only major gains to be made would be on grounds. So not doing the big 3 shouldn’t be terrible

 

My point is that there is no downside. No extra cost. No major adjustments. A minor wire harness change which I can do in 3 minutes. I’d walk you through it via zoom or FaceTime even. It’s super easy.

Later on, you can do a bigger fuse and / or big 3. And harness the power for winching or charging a trailer battery or bmf subwoofers or just have it available.

Again, no downside. None. It’s all upside, whether potential or actual.

 

And I'd just add to this: Also comes with limited risk. The only major risk I can possibly fathom is popping the wires into the new-style alternator plug, or damaging a wire when you pop it out, neither of which should be a problem if you take your time and double-check your work.

 

I don't believe so. Going up to 130A would require the same modifications as 150A. They discussed it on page one. 02 came with 80/100 depending on tow package or not. Starting in 2003 it was 100/130. I'm assuming that's when the shape of the connector changed too.

 

I have it stuck in my head - and maybe I'm mistaking it for the earlier-model 1st gen Sequoia - there was a 120A or 130A option with your older style connection. I also have it stuck in my head the default was, like 70A and 100A (or 90A and 100A) too. I did a shitload of digging on it when I was offloading my spare 100A and spare 130A and we were chatting, and something in the ballpark of what I'm describing was reality.

But yes. Bare minimum work here is, you de-pin the connector that plugs into the alternator, then insert pins into new connector, then install new alternator (with the extra bolt, with part number Noah posted) and it's plug and play.

 

I can also do a conversion harness. I just don’t like it compared to de-pin and re-pin. Looks lame.

These are all control signals. Power delivery is off the stud and protected by the fuse. Replacing that fuse requires partial disassembly of the fuse box. Ask me how I know.

 

You got it. Ohms in wire is also dependent for the load served, so bigger loads will make more heat. Length is another factor. So a 1/0 wire should be fine on the 150A alternator. Not many are gonna be even remotely close to that. And with the length being so short the effective ohms is gonna be approaching 0, but never 0.

 

Gentlemen and Ladies....Please Fuse all your positive cables..always..

This is for when you skip the Factory Alternator to Fuse box to Battery + cabling and Wire straight from Alternator to Battery + terminal

the above Post where you are not using any fuse for the cable going from your positive line Alternator to Battery Pos...it is a Bad bad bad thing waiting to happen. The reason you use a fuse is so that you stop any shorts from happening and causing a Fire... what happens if you get into an Front end accident and your NON fused Positive Alt-2-Battery wire broke and now touches the vehicle frame or anywhere on to ground?? ---> Answer is this creates a "Short" casing the wire to heat up and eventually i.e. in seconds heat up and start a fire. Also hope the fuel lines didn't get damage in this accident.. Ok thats a bad scenario.. This is EXACTLY the reason to FUSE this positive Alt-2-Battery + cable.

Additionally where would you fuse it? as close to the battery + terminal as possible. I did a big 4 upgrade on my Land cruiser (130A Alt) and I had a MRBF fuse right on top of the battery. Here's how my fuse is setup shown below.

BTW as far as the upgraded alternator goes. At least on the Land cruiser which has the same engine as the v8 Tundra the 4.7l v8. The bigger alternator does not need any modification. Again at least on the Land cruiser all I had to do is take out the smaller 3 pin alternator and drop the 4 pin alternator in the same place without any modification.

 

Self plug - For those who are looking for a easy 3-to-4 pin Alternator Upgrade connector I sell one... 3-to-4 pin connector Please ping me on here and I can ship one out...at the price on the link.



BTW Mod's if this is not allowed please remove this post.

 

Before going through this I’d advise anyone interested to research the actual amps at idle produced by either alt. That’s the true advantage of an after market h.o. alt. Most stock alts will not generate rated amps until 2-2500 rpm if not more. It’s been said here a few times that the large wire reduces resistance, That’s not true. Larger wire allows for greater amperage.

 

Anyone that has done this upgrade or knows the location, would you confirm where the motor is block is grounded to the chassis?

Only thing I’m seeing is this on the back of engine bay.

 

Yea, i'd have expected a large braided ground, but i just saw this wire connected to the rear of the pass side head. 2002, dunno about gen 1.5's.

 

There's another ground (at least one) that laps from the battery, around the front of the engine, I think? And one from the battery to the fender wall. Maybe one more?

 

I upgraded the battery to fender wall. Need to look and see if there is one coming off the front of the engine.

 

Someone posted a graphic of the engine bay grounds. I swear there's 4, maybe 3. Hell if I can find it now. Maybe it's in the EWDs that are linked in the 'so you just bought a 1st gen tundra' sticky thread?

 

This was posted by Bubba W a few years ago. He had a 2004.

 

Wire requirement for 12V 150A circuit with less than 2% voltage drop across distance:
6ft - 4ga
10ft - 2ga
20ft - 2/0ga
25ft - 3/0ga
30ft - 4/0ga

When wiring a circuit don't forget to consider the negative (ground) side as it's carrying the same current loads.

 

Thanks @bfunke Bryan, super helpful.
I used 1/0 for the power wire from the alternator to battery and 4 gauge for the short grounds (engine to chassis and battery to chassis)z

 

Just a Super write up, Huge Thanks to the OP!
My 05 Tundra AC has the factory 130 amp that failed early, only has around 390k miles on it...lol
Fwiw trucks loaded, TRD Off Rd, Tow Package & Factory Stereo W/amp, power windows etc.
I'm upgrading it being so easy after learning more here. I ordered a Denso Reman 150, keeping my 130 to rebuild for backup. You know' Ill need it around 800k miles I guess?..lol
Thanks again all!
Peace!

 

I was wondering where you ordered from and did you get it yet.
Seems like most places are out of stock.

 

They had the 150A (part engine 1066) for sale at multiple places on the internet just a few weeks ago. I considered buying one at the time, but then I was, like, "Awwww, they'll be there in a month or two!".

Nope. Made the same mistake with reman CV Axles.

EDIT: And at the time of this post I see RA had a single 130A in stock, miraculously.

 

Yep' Rock had these 150A within the last few weeks. The first time I looked they had them, came back 2 days later to order it & they didnt have any. Debated??
I started checking back daily some days twice & hit one within a week (on now).
With 3 trucks it allows me to wait were so many cant, but anyone looking keep checking back there if possible.

Fwiw- Certain parts are in/out cause Rock buys old stock from everywhere & why they offer some still.
Doubt they can order any 150's from Denso this late in the game, just saying?

 

I've mentioned elsewhere before, but given you can order that same Denso unit direct from Toyota and it's perpetually always in stock (albeit at higher $$), I suspect Denso has an agreement with Toyota where Toyota either gets (A) minimum # of units from each production run, or (B) at any given time, or (C) guaranteed units warehoused or similar, and anything remaining can be disbursed to major outlets, I'm assuming in the order which was requested unless they have some sort of 'preferred vendor' situation. It's also possible they're just letting vendors like Summit, RockAuto, etc. hook into their inventory system somehow to see what's there.

Or maybe I'm wrong.

 

PS - the OEM p/n for the 150A Sequoia alternator, as taken from EPC on a 2006 V8/4WD Sequoia, is 27060-0F050

There's a $75 core regardless who you order from, MSRP is outrageous, but looking at $263 if ordering from ToyotaPartsDeal, but that's before core charge, so $338 basically.

If I order for pickup from my local dealership when no sale is happening it's $353 before I add on the 25% off deal they're doing the next 6 days thru the national site ($50 off $200 orders), and after, once you remove the core, you're looking at around $298.

Amayama, it's a little over $1,700, plus 10% more for shipping.

Yeah. I think it's smarter to wait until Denso restocks, unless you have a 150A core laying around so you can knock off that $75 off the top.

And actually, it looks like you're only out another $50-75 if you order form Toyota.

But it also looks like the price was ballpark $220 when RockAuto had it in stock last go-round.

 

Well that's true! I retired from Guardian SRG Global who makes OEM parts for most every car maker (including Toy) and those contracts can be very long standing.
Toy most likely had a long contract with Denso to manufacture X amount of those Alts and it's cheaper for Denso to continue making them vs paying Toyota back for what's not produced.

 

I'm sure there's probably maybe even more to it than that, or maybe it's even simpler than that.

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