Bolt on alternator upgrade?
 

Are there any straight bolt on upgrades for a 617 turbo motor alternator?

search al129 for a 115amp upgrade...

Cool, thanks John. Are there any more incremental upgrades that don't require rewiring things?

Actually pretty easy to wire in. I did mine so I could preserve the stock wiring. Worked great for ~4 months while I had the car before selling it.

Run a 2ga wire from the big terminal on the ALT to the + terminal on the battery. Then all you have to do is splice in to the signal wire and connect it to the small terminal on the alternator. This way you can retain the stock wiring and plug, and still benefit from the extra amps.

I had a stereo with amps and I also had a trailer for my veggie oil collection that had a 12v pump for vacuum on the tank. Alternator worked great to power everything and I didn't have to worry about lights dimming :D

I think the 70A unit from a 380SEL will work with no changes....but thats not much of an upgrade. On my 300SD I just swapped out the cable to the alt from the wiring block and put in an 80A from a saab.

Cool! I think 70 will be more than enough for me....anybody have a good one for sale?

also, the 87 300D's have the same wiring as the earlier diesels, and go up to 80 amps I think.

however, if you are going to a yard for an alternator, find a newer MB, and steal the wire from the battery to the alternator and starter, and you've got the wiring upgrade all factory like...

Does your SD have the early 55A unit? There was also a 65A unit that will work. I had a 65 on mine for a while until I went up to an 80A unit.

Wouldn't the starter be on the other side for the 87?

Yes. It would probably still work, just would be a longer wire.

For what they cost, go full Monty! Mercedes Benz s E CL CLS CLK 150A Alternator Factory Used | eBay

Sixto
87 300D

Not sure if that would fit or be a direct bolt on solution.

Those are what I have in my serp belt setup cars (m103 and om602).

Is that a serp belt alternator?

As far as I know the best alt you can put in the 617/116/117 v-belt engines is that 115A that vstech references.

The 143/150A unit that pawo and sixto reference are serpentine pulley-d alternators and go best in the 60x/103/etc motors.

I think originally, they were saying that you could take the wiring off the serp alternator setup and put it on the v-belt ones. That would give you the needed wiring up grade.

Simplest may be to try eBay, as there are at least two vendors who specialize in upgraded and rebuilt Bosch alternators. I got the one I just put into my 300d a few years back, I think I went with 70 amp but they also do 80 and higher.

The guys I got it from are Eagle Auto Electric in California (at the time I didn't know of anyone reliable in my area, who would upgrade on rebuild).

That sounds very good!

Thanks for all the ideas guys!