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  • 1979 - 1995 (Fox, SN95.0, & 2.3L) -General/Talk-
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3G alternator wiring problem

  • Thread starter Thread starter Carb'dCobra
  • Start date Start date Oct 25, 2006
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Carb'dCobra

New Member
Oct 23, 2006
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Tampa, Fl
Oct 25, 2006
#1
  • Oct 25, 2006
  • #1
Well I couldn't stop putsin' around with the wiring and I screwed up again. So I'm just going to go back from the start.

I have a brand new (not reman'd) 1995 5.0 Cobra OEM replacement 3G. How do I wire it up. Bare in mind, I have nothing left of the original harness. Everything is wiried myself (fuel pump, lights, etc.).

Correct me if I'm wrong but here's my current setup. My yellow/white-stripe wire runs to the back of the post on the alternator. I have a large 4ga wire running from the rear post to the battery. The white/black-stripe wire runs to the stator blade recessed in the case. And the green/red-stripe wire runs to my master switch in the cockpit, which I belive ignites the alternator when turned on. I also have a 2" pulley on it. Is that an overdriven pulley?

Now, the alternator has started making that horrifying screaming noise from the case when I rev up, and the case gets hot after about a two minutes running. I also appx. 16-16.5 idling volts @ 850-1000rpm (my rpm fluctuates) and 18+ above 2500rpm.

Help please. Jrichter I believe this might be your field lol.
 

Mustang78

New Member
Feb 8, 2006
486
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Aberdeen, WA
Oct 25, 2006
#2
  • Oct 25, 2006
  • #2
remove the battery cable and see if it keeps running, the only time i've heard a high pitched squeal from an alt. is when i ran it without a battery for about 6 blocks..it puts a large amount of stress on the alternator, make sure its storing the voltage somewhere, if that's ok it might be defective, like a bad bearing or somethin..good luck i plan on doing a 3G real soon, how many amp is yours?

~Mark~
 

HISSIN50

"How long does it take to get help in here?
15 Year Member
Nov 29, 1999
31,179
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129
Oct 25, 2006
#3
  • Oct 25, 2006
  • #3
I would not remove the battery cable with the car running. This could wipe out electronics and computer controlled items in short order.
 

jrichker

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Oct 25, 2006
#4
  • Oct 25, 2006
  • #4
The green/red wire needs a 500 ohm resistor wired in parallel with a 12 volt dash light to
provide a proper regulator wake up circuit.

The following diagram provides the basic plan for alternator wiring. The 3G altenator would
use a 4 gauge fused power feed in place of the two 10 gauge black/orange wires.
You should also have a 4 gauge block to chassis ground wire.

Diagram courtesy of Tmoss & Stang&2birds


See the following website for some help from Tmoss (diagram designer) & Stang&2Birds (website host) for help on 88-95 wiring http://www.veryuseful.com/mustang/tech/engine/

http://www.veryuseful.com/mustang/tech/engine/images/IgnitionSwitchWiring.gif

http://www.veryuseful.com/mustang/tech/engine/images/fuel-alt-links-ign-ac.gif

http://www.veryuseful.com/mustang/tech/engine/images/88-91_5.0_EEC_Wiring_Diagram.gif

The 3G has a 130 amp capacity, so you wire the power side
with 4 gauge wire. It stands to reason that the ground side
handles just a much current, so it needs to be 4 gauge too.

Picture courtesy timewarped1972 View attachment 429930
 
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Carb'dCobra

New Member
Oct 23, 2006
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Tampa, Fl
Oct 25, 2006
#5
  • Oct 25, 2006
  • #5
Do you mean I should ground the alernator? I have a 4ga ground wire coming off the back of the motor to the stock location as shown in the photo, and the front engine ground is 4ga and goes to the (-) battery terminal.

Anyway, I went down to advance and got the old alt tested. Turns out, a while back I must've fried the internal regulator and never found out until I had wired correctly. The guys over at Blue Oval Corral helped me in wiring it, since I don't have any OEM wiring in the car AT ALL. So I got a new one under warranty, made sure the wiring is correct, and it now puts out about 14 at idle (670rpm) and 14.5-14.8 around 300rpm (due to overdrive pulley I put on). Thanks for your concern guys.
 

jrichker

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#6
  • Oct 25, 2006
  • #6
The ground you have now should be fine. No more grounds are needed in your case.
 

HISSIN50

"How long does it take to get help in here?
15 Year Member
Nov 29, 1999
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Oct 25, 2006
#7
  • Oct 25, 2006
  • #7
jrichker said:
The green/red wire needs a 500 ohm resistor wired in parallel with a 12 volt dash light to
provide a proper regulator wake up circuit.
Click to expand...
Quoted for reiteration of importance. Just a straight run of wire (with no resistor/filament) will cause some real issue with a short to ground, of sorts.

Good luck.
 
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