Speedtoys

And that's fine.

Im sure a few people will be lightening $500-800 out of people's pockets for issues that 99.9999% of the time are a non issue.


This is why real gauges have been removed from most cars over time. Dealerships lost their asses managing complaints over non issues that people convinced themselves that they saw in them.

My V's drop at idle when it's hot. Because I understand why, is why I don't need an $800 30A alternator.

Dictys

This was whilst I was living in the Middle East with temps over 115F in the summer. The car is now back in UK and no heat soak issues.

Fronkenstein

Umm sorry but you're trying to defy the laws of physics. OHM's law states that current(I) is, among other variants, a function of voltage(E) divided by resistance(R). If you increase resistance I don't care if you connect a 100 billion AMP current source you will only draw I=E/R.

Let's say your starter has a resistance of 0.1 ohms, and your battery has an internal resistance of .05 ohms and all the grounds and connections are assumed to be 0 ohms. We have a total resistance (R) of 0.15 ohms. Applying I=E/R we have 12/0.15 = 80 amperes. Now let's increase (R) resistance by one order of magnitude to 1.5 ohms. Once again applying I=E/R or 12/1.5 = 8 amperes and so on. Now you could put 10 batteries in series for 120V and get your 80 amperes:-D Of course heat, corrosion, oil (notorious issue on the alternator and starter crimp connectors), oxidization, heat cycle damage of grounds and high current terminals all add to the problem.

But adding a higher current alternator is not going to help. Even if all things were great and you had high current draw adding a high current alternator will not solve all your woes as it will stress the heck out of the battery in high current cycling. That is why all commercial snow plow pickup trucks run dual batteries and a large alternator. The parallel batteries handle the deep cycling issues while the alternator is there to handle the appropriate charge rate for the two batteries. Additionally the higher amp rated alternator is used to factor in duty cycle, etc.

If you really want to help your starting issues, replace the alternator to battery feed with high grade copper wire, perhaps even a gauge larger as well as a new B+ cable from the battery to the starter. I like to use high quality welding cable. If you really want to ensure good battery to engine current feed then run another welding cable from B- to the starter as well. Change the ground straps from the chassis to the engine on both sides. And finally where possible solder high current connections with silver solder. Bottom line is seek out and inspect any wire that is 12 gauge and larger.

Also seek out bad hardware grounds throughout the chassis. A hardware ground is a ground that is dependent on a bolt or screw to make adequate connection from the main chassis to the bolt on components that require and electrical ground. These hardware grounds are almost surely at best intermittent.

Fronkenstein

Fronkenstein

Oh I was having so much fun I almost forgot what I came to this topic for. Has anyone here found a good retrofit alternator that will fit the bracket and actually line up with the belt? I thinking perhaps Volvo, Audi or BMW. Heck even a Leese Neville would be cool

Fronkenstein

Debrue

I replaced my PoS factory alternator with an AC Delco 130amp, it was a bolt in with an inexpensive wiring adaptor. Maybe a little kludging with a few washers to get it all lined up. About an hours work, I will say two hours if we include the trip to NAPA to buy a unit.

Now my voltmeter reads high even when hot. Very happy with my fix.

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The Patman

I really love this forum, you guys are great! I really get a kick out of this place sometimes!

Speedtoys

Surely you spent $500 for this.

marine928

You must be buying gold plated alternators. Go here for for a great alternator under 200 bucks. Been using them for years. Great products at a great price.

http://eaglestarters.com/Eagle-Auto-Electric-ebay.html

marine928

Fronk, no starting issues as I said earlier, I've upgraded most of the electrical, but the drop in idle current and voltage while sitting in traffic with all accessories on in hot weather, windshield wipers on, prompted me to shell out 167 bucks for a 130 amp Bosch reman alternator from my trusted source Eagle Auto electric.
I have my old working 60 amp in great condition that I'll sell for $50.00 if you want it. 75.00 if you want the air pump too. Shipping not incl.
Love your in depth reply and explanation on electric theory. Only problem is that when I measured charging current to the battery under the above conditions it was 12.9-13.0 pre 130 amp. After install it was 13.9 -14.1.
The warm fuzzy feeling I got knowing that my battery was charging, no light dimming and no idle drop was well worth the $170 I spent. http://eaglestarters.com/Eagle-Auto-Electric-ebay.html

Carl Fausett

Patman - you are not forgotten! I made a one-of alternator mount for an early 16v car and Pete has been nice enough to drive it around the country for a while. Works great.

I am taking it off the car to pattern it this week - and we will be able to fit both our 150 AMP and 200 AMP alternators to the 16v motors as a result. Its a big improvement!

Alan

Nobody said you didn't get better idle performance with your swap - the point is it wasn't anything to do with the 130A max current rating - that actually hurt things. You just happened to get an alternator that for various possible other reasons still works better at low idle than the stock unit (despite it's higher max current rating). You might want to stop arguing this point and think about the logic.

Now a test for you. Since you now have an alternator that can put out more volts than your stock unit (you mentioned 14.1v) - after you have taken a nice long drive in hot weather (>1hour @>90F). Stop the car and access the battery - see how hot it is - because there is now a risk you are overcharging it.

You will know from the temperature - if it's too hot to touch - that would be bad - a simple test for peace of mind. I would suggest this same test to anyone who upgrades to a new alternator or a different regulator.

BTW your stock alternator was never a 60A unit - nowhere near that low (except that it was probably worse than that at Idle )

Alan

Debrue

surely i did not spend $500 for this

acdelco alternators are dirt cheap I have to find the NAPA receipt. I don't think I paid more than $150 for a brand new (not reman) unit.

wiring adaptor was under $30, and $1 at home depot for some washers

been a couple years no issues. seems like a ton of talk for a simple fix.

and the best part is my stereo is louder than my exhaust

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Alan

You'd be a good candidate for that test.

Alan

M. Requin

Do you mean charging voltage?

Carl Fausett

First new alternator bracket came in for the 16V cars... the bracket is a little off... sent their sample back for correction. Just wanted you to know the 16V version is in process. Here's a picture of the 200 AMP alternator on a 16V car with the hand-made prototype bracket. The 150 AMP alternator has the same case and outer dimensions.

(this car has our front lower frame brace installed, so you cant see the whole alternator bracket)