alternator upgrade what do i need to do?

86gtriceeater · May 14, 2008

when you upgrade from the stock alternator do you need to upgrade the 8gauge yellow power wire to like 4guage or what? i already and 0gauge grounds so i need 0 gauge "yellow" wire?????

93 LX · May 14, 2008

its kinda like a pipe. Same size input and output pipes little or no resistance, large input and small output major issues with resistance.

86gtriceeater · May 14, 2008

how do you actually wire the larger wire in though? silly question but really???

93 LX · May 15, 2008

from the lug on the alternator, through a 200 amp mega fuse, then to the battery side of the solenoid.

86gtriceeater · May 15, 2008

where do you get such a fuse from? and if you splice into 8gauge wiring on the plug youre only as strong (current flow) as your weakest link (the 8 gauge) right? so the battery will still be charging through the solonoid?

LiquidGT · May 15, 2008

Dont use the factory wire, but you'll need to loop one of the wires from the regulator (cant remember which one) to the main output along with the new 4ga on the alt so it will charge.

You can go to http://paperformance.com and buy the wire, I think it comes with the fuse. If you really want some good wire go to a car audio place and buy 12ft of wire I also used a 200 amp circuit breaker instead of a stupid fuse, I dont want to hunt around for a 200 amp fuse if it ever blew. But my friend used to work at the place and he hooked me up, and now I work there so wire and the breaker only cost me $20.

86gtriceeater · May 15, 2008

thats a good idea pm me if you can get those for me

HISSIN50 · May 15, 2008

86gtriceeater said:
and if you splice into 8gauge wiring on the plug youre only as strong (current flow) as your weakest link (the 8 gauge) right? so the battery will still be charging through the solonoid?

The thoughts about the weakest link are good.

4 AWG cable is not rated for 200 amps so fuse accordingly. A 125 amp fuse would be fairly appropriate for a 130 amp alt and a decent run of 4 AWG cable.

Yes, the battery is still charged through the solenoid (now the conduit is your new 4 AWG cable and not the stock wires however).

You can get all the parts you need at Parts Express as well.

Good luck.

86gtriceeater · May 17, 2008

what if im lazy

whats the highest amperage you can use without upgrading wiring....dont get me wrong im all about upgrades on my ride but i dont wanna replace the wire harness for alternator and deal with more issues than i already have then come back ask more questions and look stupid again...im learning a lot its like taking an online class

93 LX · May 17, 2008

It depends on your cars needs. I replaced my 2G with a 3G in my 90 GT Vert because the 2g would hang up and cause the engine to stumble. I got the 3g out of a Sable with a 3.8L. I had to use the stock wires since the alt i got has its lug near the bottom of the bracket after installed. I was wondering if I could rotate the back of the housing but I was pressed to get the car running.

To cut to the short is the demands on my charging system is stock thus the stock wires will be enough but if I were to upgrade to an electric fan, large amp and so on I would upgrade to a 4 or 0 ga wire.

BTW back to the fuse thing I think I have a 150 not 200 as I mentioned before. I know on my 93 the peak pull of the fan I have is at 100 amps so this fuse will be ok..

HISSIN50 · May 17, 2008

There were issues with the stock charge wires with only stock alternators (there was a TSB about it IIRC). So anything over zero amps is really a risk IMHO.

The wiring retrofit on the charging system is simple so there's no need to be fearful of it.

alternator upgrade what do i need to do?

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