Installed a higher output alternator and its killing my battery!

T_Roberts · Dec 14, 2020

Hi all, I installed the PA performance alternator from American muscle that has an output of 200 amps. I also purchased the PA performance premium power wire kit to accommodate the bigger load from the alternator. upon installing these items, my battery was reading low on the cars dashboard and under heavy loads, the car would jug. Today, I took it to autozone and had them test the battery and as I pulled into autozone, the cars electronics died and the car jugged and jugged until it was turned off. It would then not turn on until it was jump started so we assumed the battery was bad. I got a new battery and she started right up. He checked my battery and alternator and the car consistently failed the voltage test because it was producing either to high a voltage or too low a voltage. The battery light on the dash stays on but the battery voltage bar stay slightly above halfway. Any reasons why a new alternator would cause this Do I need a bigger battery possibly? Thanks for any help/advice!

HemiRick · Dec 14, 2020

Your new alternator setup is not working as it should.....the battery is not the problem, its a symptom. Do you have a Volt ohm meter?

T_Roberts · Dec 14, 2020

HemiRick said:
Your new alternator setup is not working as it should.....the battery is not the problem, its a symptom. Do you have a Volt ohm meter?

I do have one. What do I need to do to test this?

HemiRick · Dec 14, 2020

Dont have a clue....Depends on the alt.....1st thing I'd do is double check everything you touched. For an alt to charge it needs voltage to its field wire....a working system running should be at 14.3-14.4 volts

T_Roberts · Dec 14, 2020

HemiRick said:
Dont have a clue....Depends on the alt.....1st thing I'd do is double check everything you touched. For an alt to charge it needs voltage to its field wire....a working system running should be at 14.3-14.4 volts

Alright, so I switched out the PA performance wire kit back for the stock ford wire kit and the battery light turned off. Not sure yet if this fixed the issue but strange how a bigger wire could cause so much issue

Noobz347 · Dec 15, 2020

Post pictures of everything to include the connection points for your new harness.

T_Roberts · Dec 15, 2020

Noobz347 said:
Post pictures of everything to include the connection points for your new harness.

I'll get some pictures soon. Not near the car right now. With the old wire kit on, the car struggles to start initially but when she's running she runs great. The new wire kit at least starts every time. Weird

Mustang5L5 · Dec 15, 2020

Sounds like the voltage regulator has failed or was not hooked up properly

T_Roberts · Dec 15, 2020

Mustang5L5 said:
Sounds like the voltage regulator has failed or was not hooked up properly

So if the alternator is brand new, granted that new things are bad sometimes, wouldnt the voltage regulator be good?

Mustang5L5 · Dec 16, 2020

You would assume so, but you never know. Could also be an issue with how the alt was wired.

you can remove the alt and take it to a parts store to be tested. They will be able to tell if the voltage regulator is in spec or not

a91what · Dec 16, 2020

If the regulator circuit is staying powered full time then it will kill the battery. What instructions did you use when it was wired in?

T_Roberts · Dec 16, 2020

Mustang5L5 said:
You would assume so, but you never know. Could also be an issue with how the alt was wired.

you can remove the alt and take it to a parts store to be tested. They will be able to tell if the voltage regulator is in spec or not

Well, when I took the car to autozone for them to run tests on the alt and the battery, they said everything was fine with the stock ford wire kit intalled. The only issue was prompted qhen the new wire kit was in. Wouldnt that mean that the alt is in spec and it's just the car doesn't like the new wire kit?

T_Roberts · Dec 16, 2020

Noobz347 said:
Post pictures of everything to include the connection points for your new harness.

I posted pictures to the original post. The old harness is in right now. New one will not start

T_Roberts · Dec 17, 2020

a91what said:
If the regulator circuit is staying powered full time then it will kill the battery. What instructions did you use when it was wired in?

I had no general instructions for wiring my year car. No video, no manual, nothing.....so I just rewired everything the same way it was originally. I also, as of last night, moved the wire that went to the side of the fuse box straight to the battery terminal

KRUISR · Dec 19, 2020

From your first pic I will assume you have an SN95 car. What wiring changed going from Ford wiring to PA kit? (I am unfamiliar with that kit)

When I did a 3G alt in my fox I used a power cable from a Freestar (on the Freestar it goes alt post across the engine bay to battery post - single 4 ga wire, so that's what I did, no fuse inline).

As asked above, what is your voltage across the battery when idling and at 1500-2000 RPM (with both wiring systems)?

T_Roberts · Dec 19, 2020

KRUISR said:
From your first pic I will assume you have an SN95 car. What wiring changed going from Ford wiring to PA kit? (I am unfamiliar with that kit)

When I did a 3G alt in my fox I used a power cable from a Freestar (on the Freestar it goes alt post across the engine bay to battery post - single 4 ga wire, so that's what I did, no fuse inline).

As asked above, what is your voltage across the battery when idling and at 1500-2000 RPM (with both wiring systems)?

The only difference i know is that the pa premium power wire kit has a fuse in between the battery and the alternator. The other questions....I do not know how to test and what to look for. The car will not start without a jump start anymore anyways. I installed an optima performamce battery with 800 CCA to see if that would fix it but it does not. The car only cranks and does not start until it is jump started

nickyb · Dec 19, 2020

Look at the 3g alt. Install write up, you can't go wrong following that.

T_Roberts · Dec 20, 2020

nickyb said:
Look at the 3g alt. Install write up, you can't go wrong following that.

Do you have a link to a specific install for my year and model. 2000 v6?

T_Roberts · Jan 9, 2021

Alright...back at this again. After getting stranded in a parking lot and having the car towed back home over night. The car threw a couple check engine codes finally. The only one that stuck out was a failure in the fuel rail pressure sensor. So....I went to a local scrap yard and found a couple new ones. Replaced the old with the new and for a while the car worked with no issues, until today. Got in the car today and boom...would only crank and would not start. I'm absolutely clueless as to whats wrong now. I don't have the money to keep trial and error in different parts so my last option is this forum and possibly if Firestone could run an engine check that might give me some slight information as to whats wrong.

T_Roberts · Feb 23, 2021

T_Roberts said:
Hi all, I installed the PA performance alternator from American muscle that has an output of 200 amps. I also purchased the PA performance premium power wire kit to accommodate the bigger load from the alternator. upon installing these items, my battery was reading low on the cars dashboard and under heavy loads, the car would jug. Today, I took it to autozone and had them test the battery and as I pulled into autozone, the cars electronics died and the car jugged and jugged until it was turned off. It would then not turn on until it was jump started so we assumed the battery was bad. I got a new battery and she started right up. He checked my battery and alternator and the car consistently failed the voltage test because it was producing either to high a voltage or too low a voltage. The battery light on the dash stays on but the battery voltage bar stay slightly above halfway. Any reasons why a new alternator would cause this Do I need a bigger battery possibly? Thanks for any help/advice!

Alright. After 3 repair shops and some helpful hints from some people on here I have finally figured out what it was. 2 things were wrong. My subs were wired wrong from the factory and were constantly draining the battery. The mach 460 amps wiring was Intertangled and drew to much power. 2, the fuel pump was bad. After replacing/fixing both. I have solved my issue. My ac compressor clutch was also about to blow its brains out so I changed that out also

Installed a higher output alternator and its killing my battery!

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