3 G Alternator Wiring question-Did search-no luck. What's a fuseable link????????????

gruvee87vertgt

Dirt-Old 20+Year Member
Oct 7, 2003
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Chicago, Il
thanx for looking



I am trying to install the 3G alternater today but I dont understand what a fuse link is?>?

Is is a smaller gauge wire than what the I am using to power the alternator? do they burn if there is too much voltage???

My plan was to use a Four gauge power wire and connect two 10 gauge wires with it? Wil this work? thanx
 
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A fuseable link is just a wire that is made out of a "weaker" wire. There are two parts to it, the normal wire, and the "fuse" part of it. It acts like a normal fuse and blows when too many amps/volts get pulled through it.

As for the hooking it all up, ask Jricker, or Hissin50
 
Here's websites with pictures of the 3G installation...

See http://www.geocities.com/smithmonte/Auto/3G_130A_Alternator_Upgrade.htm - all the tech data you could ever want to know
OR
http://www.mustangcentral.net/tech/alternator.html - excellent pictures of installation

Use these sites for information on the right way to do the wiring. Some people will tell you that you can skip the wiring upgrade, but it will catch up with you sooner or later. A fire in the wiring harness is ugly and expensive.

Under no circumstances connect the two 10 gauge black/white wires to the 3G alternator. If the fuse blows in the 4 gauge wire, the two 10 gauge wires will be overloaded to the point of catching fire and burning up the wiring harness.

The secondary power ground is between the back of the intake manifold and the driver's side firewall. It is often missing or loose. It supplies ground for the alternator, A/C compressor clutch and other electrical accessories such as the gauges. Any car that has a 3G alternator needs a 4 gauge ground wire running from the block to the chassis ground where the battery pigtail ground connects.

See WWW.partsexpress.com for the fuse & fuse holder.
Fuse @ $3.90 each (need one) http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&DID=7&Partnumber=071-952

Fuseholder @ $5.80 each (need one) http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&DID=7&Partnumber=263-630

4 gauge black wire @ $1.25 a foot (use string to lay out routing & determine length) http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&DID=7&Partnumber=100-196

4 gauge red wire @ $1.25 a foot (use string to lay out routing & determine length) http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&DID=7&Partnumber=100-194

4 gauge ring crimp terminals (package of 5) $3.25. http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&DID=7&Partnumber=095-584

Pre-fab 4 gauge cables with lugs already on the ends are available in most auto parts stores. Look for the starter switch to starter cables.
 
jrichker said:
Here's websites with pictures of the 3G installation...

See http://www.geocities.com/smithmonte/Auto/3G_130A_Alternator_Upgrade.htm - all the tech data you could ever want to know
OR
http://www.mustangcentral.net/tech/alternator.html - excellent pictures of installation

Use these sites for information on the right way to do the wiring. Some people will tell you that you can skip the wiring upgrade, but it will catch up with you sooner or later. A fire in the wiring harness is ugly and expensive.

Under no circumstances connect the two 10 gauge black/white wires to the 3G alternator. If the fuse blows in the 4 gauge wire, the two 10 gauge wires will be overloaded to the point of catching fire and burning up the wiring harness.

The secondary power ground is between the back of the intake manifold and the driver's side firewall. It is often missing or loose. It supplies ground for the alternator, A/C compressor clutch and other electrical accessories such as the gauges. Any car that has a 3G alternator needs a 4 gauge ground wire running from the block to the chassis ground where the battery pigtail ground connects.

See WWW.partsexpress.com for the fuse & fuse holder.
Fuse @ $3.90 each (need one) http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&DID=7&Partnumber=071-952

Fuseholder @ $5.80 each (need one) http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&DID=7&Partnumber=263-630

4 gauge black wire @ $1.25 a foot (use string to lay out routing & determine length) http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&DID=7&Partnumber=100-196

4 gauge red wire @ $1.25 a foot (use string to lay out routing & determine length) http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&DID=7&Partnumber=100-194

4 gauge ring crimp terminals (package of 5) $3.25. http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&DID=7&Partnumber=095-584

Pre-fab 4 gauge cables with lugs already on the ends are available in most auto parts stores. Look for the starter switch to starter cables.

thanx for the reponse.

can I use the 150a wafer fuse/wafer case with a 2 gauge wire?
 
nuts...

I just did this swap last weekend. Now it looks like I have revisit it to remove the black/orange wires :rolleyes:
It does work quite well though, well worth the effort.
BTW, I got my 4G wire from NAPA, they had a spool of it. I had to ask though, it was in the back.
I had gotten my fusible link from Autozone previously and what I thought was enough 4G wire...
 
gruvee87vertgt said:
Do I have to use a 150a fuse or can I use a 120a fuse? I am trying to get as much voltage as possible. thanx
The size of the fuse has nothing to do with the voltage avalable...at least that's what she said...








A 120 amp fuse is good if that is what you have. The point at which a fuse blows is 135%-150% of the labled rating over a time period of several minutes.
 
I just did the 3g instal this past weekend and instead of the fuselink bull$hit, i decided to throw a 120a circuit breaker in there. The fuses are expensive and i didnt want to be rewiring a fuse link in the middle of the freeway so i went with the 4g wire and the breaker....works amazing...charges like crazy at idle too!!
 
ninety15.0 said:
I just did the 3g instal this past weekend and instead of the fuselink bull$hit, i decided to throw a 120a circuit breaker in there. The fuses are expensive and i didnt want to be rewiring a fuse link in the middle of the freeway so i went with the 4g wire and the breaker....works amazing...charges like crazy at idle too!!

sounds cool....where do I get one?
 
ninety15.0 said:
I just did the 3g instal this past weekend and instead of the fuselink bull$hit, i decided to throw a 120a circuit breaker in there. The fuses are expensive and i didnt want to be rewiring a fuse link in the middle of the freeway so i went with the 4g wire and the breaker....works amazing...charges like crazy at idle too!!
I did the same thing 6 months ago when I added my 4ga wire. Now that I think about it, I think I got my 140amp circuit breaker at a local car audio shop and I think it was like $40. If you were to blow a couple 140amp fuses, the circuit breaker would pay for its self pretty quickly as those fuses are like $10 each if I remember correctly. Also, they're rated to "throw" at a higher % of load than 100%, so you could probably even use a 100amp for better results - I really doubt you'll push 140 amps through there very often anyway unless you're revving to 6 grand. I don't know though - consult Jrichker and the others about the technicalities of it.

Here's a picture of it installed though:

pic.php
 
Skoobie said:
Holy geeze that bundle of wires scared the $h!t outa me :lol: A breaker is a good idea though. I just went with a fuse in an easy access area.

Fuse.jpg


Yeah. I got a little worried when I saw all the wires!! I'm thinking about doing the 3g swap in the next month. I like the look of the fuse alot better than 753 wires coming out all over my engine.


It probably wouldn't be that bad if I knew what all the wires were for.
 
Dont let those wires scare you , they really have nothing to do with the 3G install. The only wires that matter in his pic are the thick red ones. The rest are just harnesses that have found there way out of their sleeves for one reason or another. My fuse is installed where the stock airbox use to be, thats why it looks so much cleaner. If I put it over by the battery is would look similar to his install.:D
 
dec322 said:
Yeah. I got a little worried when I saw all the wires!! I'm thinking about doing the 3g swap in the next month. I like the look of the fuse alot better than 753 wires coming out all over my engine.


It probably wouldn't be that bad if I knew what all the wires were for.
Well, I guess you could omit all of those wires, but you wouldn't be able to drive the car. Your car has all of those wires there now except the big red ones. Pull that pretty plastic coil cover away and you'll likely see the same situation (minus the 4ga wires and circuit breaker) in your car. The circuit breaker is the thing in the black oval
 
TheUser said:
Well, I guess you could omit all of those wires, but you wouldn't be able to drive the car. Your car has all of those wires there now except the big red ones. Pull that pretty plastic coil cover away and you'll likely see the same situation (minus the 4ga wires and circuit breaker) in your car. The circuit breaker is the thing in the black oval


Understood. I love driving the car therefore I love the wires :) .
 
Guys, I am going to install a High performance heavy duty alternator.....is two guauge power wire ok? or should i go with zero gauge? also, should I go with 120 a fuse or 140 a fuse?

I am going to be running a electirc fan and two twelves with a 2000 watt amp and two 6x9's with 400 watt amp
thanx