Alternator Upgrade
Thread Starter
Race Director
Joined: Feb 1999
Posts: 19,659
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From: Lenoir City Tennessee
Ci 6, 8 & 10 Veteran
St. Jude Donor '05-'06-'07-'08-'09-'10-'11-'12-'13-'14-'15
Alternator Upgrade
Last summer I upgraded my alternator to a higher output. I want to be able to take full advantage of the alternator upgrade so I am going to add a heavier wire. Here is where my question comes in, and I haven't looked at a wiring diagram yet. I need to run the heavier wire from the alternator to the terminal on the starter or does it need to go to the battery?
Melting Slicks
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 2,662
Likes: 8
From: Knoxville Tennessee
Eddie,
Have you considered running all your electrics thru relays to keep the load from being concentrated at your key switch? There was a post about that with a company Call Madd or something like that.
Bernie
Have you considered running all your electrics thru relays to keep the load from being concentrated at your key switch? There was a post about that with a company Call Madd or something like that.
Bernie
Racer
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 494
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From: Virginia
Originally Posted by Eddie 70
take full advantage of the alternator upgrade so I am going to add a heavier wire
Le Mans Master
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 9,192
Likes: 27
From: Boca Raton Florida
ed is correct, if you have not added in any power hngry devices like fans or big sound system there is no real need to run a bigger wire since the current demand has not increased. Here is a link to MADs site there is some great info there if your not already schooled on auto electrical systems.
http://www.madelectrical.com/
Some good recommended upgrades are Relays for the Headlights and anything else that uses a lot of juice. The advantage is eliminating the rather large voltage drop thru the cars stock electrical harness for everything on the car.
Good Luck
http://www.madelectrical.com/
Some good recommended upgrades are Relays for the Headlights and anything else that uses a lot of juice. The advantage is eliminating the rather large voltage drop thru the cars stock electrical harness for everything on the car.
Good Luck
Drifting
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 1,951
Likes: 1
From: Shore NJ
Originally Posted by edheinrich
There is no need to add any heavier wires unless you are adding something that will draw more current. The electronics that you had with the old alternator are going to draw the same amount of current with the new alternator. The advantage is that you know they will get sufficient current. The new alternator will also enable you to add electronic components such as fans and high powered stereos.
I did that upgrade awhile back also....bought the alternator kit to make it 100amps on Ebay....
Thread Starter
Race Director
Joined: Feb 1999
Posts: 19,659
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From: Lenoir City Tennessee
Ci 6, 8 & 10 Veteran
St. Jude Donor '05-'06-'07-'08-'09-'10-'11-'12-'13-'14-'15
Originally Posted by 73jst4fun
I did that upgrade awhile back also....bought the alternator kit to make it 100amps on Ebay....This is what I did only not ebay. I do run electric cooling fans and am planning on adding to the radio so I can actually hear it.
Melting Slicks
Joined: May 2001
Posts: 2,812
Likes: 4
From: Gig Harbor Wa
To answer your question, you should upgrade the wire from the alternator to the starter. Thw wire going from the starter to the battery is already 2 AWG which should be just fine.
Just a little sidenote. When I upped the alternator to 102A, it fried the ammeter in the car. First time I fired it up it pegged the ammeter and now it is stuck high. And I did not upgrade the wire to the alternator.
Just a little sidenote. When I upped the alternator to 102A, it fried the ammeter in the car. First time I fired it up it pegged the ammeter and now it is stuck high. And I did not upgrade the wire to the alternator.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 1,043
Likes: 4
From: Va
I am following the MAD wiring layout since I added the dual spals and have upgraded to the Powermaster 140 amp alternator. Although I am making one revision, the Mad layout states to run an 8 gauge from alternator to electrical junction distribution block and then 10 gauge from there to starter, I am uping this to 8 gauge just to be safe in case the alternator fails and switches the load over to the starter/battery side.
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Instructor
Joined: Aug 2005
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From: Hollywood FL
Originally Posted by 70 LS1
Just a little sidenote. When I upped the alternator to 102A, it fried the ammeter in the car. First time I fired it up it pegged the ammeter and now it is stuck high. And I did not upgrade the wire to the alternator.
Thread Starter
Race Director
Joined: Feb 1999
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From: Lenoir City Tennessee
Ci 6, 8 & 10 Veteran
St. Jude Donor '05-'06-'07-'08-'09-'10-'11-'12-'13-'14-'15
Originally Posted by 70 LS1
To answer your question, you should upgrade the wire from the alternator to the starter. Thw wire going from the starter to the battery is already 2 AWG which should be just fine.
Just a little sidenote. When I upped the alternator to 102A, it fried the ammeter in the car. First time I fired it up it pegged the ammeter and now it is stuck high. And I did not upgrade the wire to the alternator.
Just a little sidenote. When I upped the alternator to 102A, it fried the ammeter in the car. First time I fired it up it pegged the ammeter and now it is stuck high. And I did not upgrade the wire to the alternator.
I was looking at the MAD website and have always liked the idea of adding the headlight relays. Very good idea. My car had previously had problems in this area when I got it. The drivers side dashpad was smoked pretty good and covered in fire extinguisher residue.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 9,192
Likes: 27
From: Boca Raton Florida
the only reason for the ammeter to fry is to much current going thru it. The meter is typically connected across a known resistance wire, look it up on your schematic, it will look like the amp meter is paralell to a wire. If that wire (which is supposed to carry all the load) opens, then the load would all run thru the guage. If your wiring is intact there should be no problem. All the larger ammeter does is give you a bigget bucket of amps to source from.
Thread Starter
Race Director
Joined: Feb 1999
Posts: 19,659
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From: Lenoir City Tennessee
Ci 6, 8 & 10 Veteran
St. Jude Donor '05-'06-'07-'08-'09-'10-'11-'12-'13-'14-'15
Originally Posted by shafrs3
You need to upgrade the fuseable link from the junction box to the starter also.
Okay, I added the new wiring this evening. You say I need to upgrade the fusible link also. The wire I added has a provision for putting a fuse in it. Right now it has a 30 amp fuse in it. I am thinking this is probably too big. Any thoughts on this?
Melting Slicks
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 2,441
Likes: 0
Originally Posted by Eddie 70
Okay, I added the new wiring this evening. You say I need to upgrade the fusible link also. The wire I added has a provision for putting a fuse in it. Right now it has a 30 amp fuse in it. I am thinking this is probably too big. Any thoughts on this?
Last edited by shafrs3; Apr 19, 2006 at 09:08 AM.
Drifting
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 1,665
Likes: 1
From: Ontario
Although you may not NEED to run larger wires the ONLY downside of having larger wires is the cost, time to install and chance of making an error. The benefits are, to put it simpy, overkill good *grunt*.
