by Bob Pete 1996 U320 12/07
This is for the Do-it-yourselfers. If you do your own repairs, print this out for future reference, because most alternator shops could not figure this out!
The Normal Leece Neville alternator, would not work on my 96 Foretravel with a Cummins M11. The difference is not the Alternator as much as the way it is wired.
On eBay, you can buy 160 amp to 200 amp alternators for $36 to $95 plus $25 shipping. Foretravel wants around $500 for them. The Foretravel Alternator has 1 extra connection at the back. To make the generic Leece Neville alternator work, I had to do the following:
1. Remove the voltage regulator. This will release the spring-loaded contact points and you will need a long thin Allen wrench or equivalent to put these back in place. There is a small hole in the rear of the alternator that you will need to push the Allen wrench or small wire through while you push the contact points back into place and hold them in place with the Allen wrench as you push the Allen wrench over them, to keep them in place.
2. Disconnect the RED (+) wire from the voltage regulator and tape it off.
3. Remove the jumper wire from your old alternator along with its mounting bolt/lug from the rear of your old alternator.
4. drill a hole in the replacement alternator at the same position as the one in your old alternator and install the bolt/lug into it.
5. install the jumper wire from the voltage regulator + to this bolt/lug.
6. Re-install the voltage regulator loosely, then pull out the Allen wrench securing the contact points, then tighten the voltage regulator.
7. remove the factory jumper wire from the rear of the new alternator.
8. Now hook up all wires as they were with your original alternator. The new alternator should now work fine. I broke this down, but the actual time to do this is about 15 minutes and it will save you $400.