I was wondering if i will need a 3g alternator if i upgrade to a electric fan. My battery is fairly new and my terminals too. The voltage goes a little bit past halfway on my stock gauge.
There is a chance you can get away with a 2G with some fans, but it's 'not right'. You have to monitor systems (not too many accessories at once), run the fan on low, and so on. I would not leave it like this but if you're waiting on a 3G and want to get the fan installed this weekend (driving for a week on a 2G), you could probably make it work.
A DcControl.com fan controller will make the electrical system as stable as possible (that I know of).
The person that had my car previously was driving with a 2G, electric fan, and a stereo/sub sound system and it was working fine. I replaced the 2G with a 3G and noticed a big cooling difference at idle, so it wasn't working at 100%. But it'll "work"
OK,hhmm. Well i was upgrading either to a radiator or a electric fan setup this week. I guess the 3g alt and the fan setup together will be about the same as the aluminum radiator i wanted. Its still a toss up. Which will cool better upgrading the radiator or a fane setup,cause i can't do both right now since i have to fix my balancer and water pump too.
You're going to have to decide what's best. If you plan on doing nothing but highway driving, you can probably get away with putting off the 3G alternator for a little while. If you're going to be doing a lot of city driving, you might want to go with the alternator upgrade before the new radiator (assuming your current radiator is in good shape).
The stock alternator only puts out 20 - 25 amps at idle. If you're stop-and-go driving on a hot night, with the lights on, your HVAC fan on, and your e-fan running constantly, you'll be about 60 amps in the hole.