alternator question

noslow1986 · Jul 4, 2008

had my car dyno tuned today, the place was a an hour and a half away and on my way to the dyno shop, i smelt the alternator it was a weird electrial smell like it was burning off the coating on the alt case or something, so after i left the shop on my way home my car started jerking and dying, so there i was stuck on the side of the road. i had somebody bring me a battery and it ran fine all the home i was just using battery power. its a powermaster 100 amp alt one wire hook up to back of the alternator and to the battery. its only a couple months old , will summit take it back and give me a new one. and why did this happen

HISSIN50 · Jul 4, 2008

Did the fuse blow on your power cable? Are the connections tight?

I'd have it tested and then contact the vendor/manufacturer if it tests bad.

Good luck.

jrichker · Jul 4, 2008

Are you using the stock power wire (2 black/orange wires) to connect the alternator to the battery or starter solenoid?

There should be a single 4 gauge power wire to connect the new alternator to the battery or starter solenoid.

ShortThrow50 · Jul 4, 2008

its only a 100 amp. im pretty sure that he dosent need to upgrade the wiring. i have been runing a pa performance 95 amp on the stock wiring for some time now with no issues, no hot wires, etc. sounds to me that its just a faulty alternator. you should upgrade to a pa performance alt

noslow1986 · Jul 4, 2008

took the alt to auto zone to find out its bad. before i installed i called them to confirm thats its a ture one wire hook up and thats how i ran it power to back of alternator then the other end to battery. i talk to the guy at auto zone he ran his to the starter relay nows whats the difference on how he ran his from mine. the alt i got is a 100 amp powermaster but the plug is like a gm plug. its a universal alt

jrichker · Jul 4, 2008

ShortThrow50 said:
its only a 100 amp. im pretty sure that he dosent need to upgrade the wiring. i have been runing a pa performance 95 amp on the stock wiring for some time now with no issues, no hot wires, etc. sounds to me that its just a faulty alternator. you should upgrade to a pa performance alt

I would say something very negative about your electrical savvy, but it is late and I don't have the energy.

The stock wiring is barely capable of carrying 65 amps, and you expect it to carry 100 amps with no problem? Not a good decision, there is an electrical fire in your future.

noslow1986 · Jul 4, 2008

no no i used like 8 gauge or something like that, it is big wire.

jrichker · Jul 4, 2008

noslow1986 said:
no no i used like 8 gauge or something like that, it is big wire.

Look at the wire chart - 4 gauge wire is the minimun for a
130 amp alternator.

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 or high output current alternator needs
a 4 gauge ground wire running from the block to the chassis
ground where the battery pigtail ground connects.
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.

ShortThrow50 · Jul 5, 2008

jrichker said:
Look at the wire chart - 4 gauge wire is the minimun for a
130 amp alternator.

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 or high output current alternator needs
a 4 gauge ground wire running from the block to the chassis
ground where the battery pigtail ground connects.
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.

so what size wire u saying i should run for the alt i listed? Should i just buy the 3g wire kit from paperformance for 60 bucks and be done with it?

jrichker · Jul 5, 2008

Use 4 gauge wire for both power and ground. Be sure the 4 gauge power wire has a fuse, or fuse link or circuit breaker of 120-150 amp capacity. It may not fix your current problem, but it will prevent future problems.

For a 135 amp circuit breaker, see http://www.wiringproducts.com/index1.html price is $34.05

For a 120 amp circuit breaker see http://www.delcity.net/delcity/servlet/catalog?parentid=193073&page=1 price is $29.45

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

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

Check on the wire prices, they tend to change often. Copper is an expensive commodity these days.

4 gauge black wire @ about $1.95 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 @ about $1.95 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

3/4 “ Black heat shrink tubing, 4ft length, $3.56
http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&Partnumber=082-058

3/4 “ Red heat shrink tubing, 4ft length, $3.56
http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&Partnumber=082-064

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.

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