New Alternator Issue?

[HGFireHazard]

Hey guys,

I bought a PA Performance 130A alternator for the '95, and I'm not sure if it's my problem or not.

It runs the car and charges the battery fine. My first 1 1/2 hours of driving I had no issues, but I did notice my volt gauge was moving around a little bit. The next morning I start the car and the battery light is on with the needle on the HIGH side of the gauge. When the gauge gets to a certain point on the high side, my ABS light comes on. If the needle goes below that mark, the ABS light goes off, every time.

I looked under the hood and noticed my vents (serviceable battery) were bubbling acid out, and it was also on my hood cover to a great degree.

The battery was at 12.4 volts with the car off, 16.3 volts with the car on and at idle, and almost 18 volts when the car was above idle.

The only problem with the diagnosis is because I also installed at the same time a Mallory ignition, coil, MSD cap and rotor, plugs, and wires. I don't know if the ignition is related because it directly powers from battery, but my best guess is the alternator and the internal voltage regulator? Does this sound right?

I already contacted PA Performance, but I won't hear back until at least Monday I bet, so in the meantime I don't want to drive it because I don't want to fry something at that voltage.

Anybody help me confirm or deny what's going on?

Thanks.

 

[HISSIN50]

Ha ha. I just went through the same exact thing Donavan (not with a PA-P alt, but I believe it is the same manufacturer).

I believe you're right with your regulator diagnosis. It takes 5 mins to swap them out - you need la T20 Torx bit, a paperclip and a torque wrench that goes down to 2 ft-lbs.

In my case, the alt vendor was a really cool dude and sent me a new HD reg with no questions asked. If you have a spare regulator, toss it on and see if it fixes the issue. I'd send you one but I dont have any extras (once I find a good source for HD reg's, I'm going to grab one or two).

One quick thing to check: be sure the two torx bolts holding the brushes to the regulator are tight. Mine were looser than spec.

Here's a article on swapping regulators. It's almost verbatim of the service manual (it's accurate).

Good luck bud.

BTW, PM me if you wanna know who I got my alt and newest regulator from. I haven't had the new reg long enough to know how it will hold up, but I liked the specs on paper). He's on the East coast and ships fast too.

 

[HGFireHazard]

JT, thank you very much 'sir.

This is the e-mail I got from them today:

"The problem is a faulty voltage regulator, it is not restricting max output. The million dollar question is: did it just go bad on its own or did something in the car kill it? We would need to get the unit back under the terms of the warranty to fix it. In the event it was fixed and it happened a 2nd time then all signals point to the car being the culprit. we can begin that process monday during normal business hours -"

What exactly in the car would 'kill' a voltage regulator? I don't like how they worded the potential for my car being the problem without giving me a few simple reasons why, especially since my previous regulator did not have these issues.

I don't know many people who can't swap two connectors and a power wire, especially when the connectors can't be put on the wrong place

 

[HISSIN50]

I think you're right sir. In my case, I ran over all my regulator wiring (I'd done this already a little while ago, but I did it again). Sometimes the wire insulation vulcanizes and I always fear this causing an issue.

My other alt worked fine in the car before and after the new one had its issue, so that was telling to me.

I know you know all this but just for grins:

The A terminal should show battery voltage. I removed and even swapped fuses to be sure mine was not causing an issue in the system (the 20 amp fuse in the underhood box is for this circuit).

The F screw on the back of the reg should show batt voltage as well (Key off).


IIRC, the I terminal shows 1-2 volts with the key turned on (KOEO).

Be sure the stator loop has less than one ohm of resistance when you disco' both ends and check continuity.

Once the regulator is off, you can check the slip ring to alt-case resistance. It should be over 200 ohms as I recall. Make sure the rings look nice too.

All those items are the biggies [which I can think of] that can cause high alt output if it's not the regulator. For peace of mind you might want to run through those (or keep them in mind if the alt acts the same again).

I have the feeling (though it's just a gut thing) that you simple have a bad reg. If PA-P offers a choice, try to get a heavy duty version of the reg (even if I had to pay more, I would. I live in a severely hot climate though).


Good luck brah.

 

[Car Nut]

I got the same alternator a year ago or so and it has worked out great. I also used their upgraded wires.

With such a quality unit, I found that my grounds were not good enough. Replacing the frame-to-block ground cable made a big difference. Cleaning up the ground under the water pump (on the side of the block) helped a lot too. Now everythings perfect.

Not sure if you've upgraded your grounds, but if you're going to all this trouble, get a short negative battery cable with the proper ends and replace the ground-to-frame crappy cable Ford tossed on there. I went a step further and added another ground from the battery to the front clip (about 6 inches away).

 

[Danman765432]

Yeah I fried my Battery because my Regulator went too. Well actually I was on the highway and punched it an there was a loud pop. I pretty much broke the whole alternator and was sitting at 18 volts cause my regulator also got fried. Now below my battery box there is some rust from the acid. That was with a high output 200amp alternator from the same place JT gets his. I send that one back and got a new one but just picked up an Autozone stock replacement and have not had a problem since.

 

[HISSIN50]

Just for clarity (Dan couldn't have known this) but I was talking about another alternator. I got it while my old 160 amp unit was being warranty-repaired.

Sorry for the confusion

 

[S351Saleen77]

I just bought a chrome 150A from blue oval industries. Do I need upgraded wires? I thought it would be o.k. since it's not a 200A unit. What is stock 130A?

Thanks, Tom

 

[HISSIN50]

Tom, you might be able to get away with the stock 6 AWG wire if you don't demand a lot of the alternator but I would upgrade the wiring to 2 AWG personally.

Do a quick voltage-drop test on your charge cable. Because it was barely adequate from the factory and it's so old, I have the feeling that you might be dropping over .25 volts (that's the factory spec for allowable drop). If it is, this makes the decision for you.

You can also order a new premade 2 AWG cable with a fuse from places like FordFuelInjection.com if you don't want to make your own cable.

Good luck.

 

[S351Saleen77]

Thanks for the info! I will check the voltage drop and see what I get.