bought new alternator

[zbone1 10+ year member]

So I just installed my new 200 amp alternator, I also upgraded the wires to 2 gauge, from alternator to 200amp fuse to battery, battery to chassis, enginge to chassis all with 2 gauge wire... something isnt right, I used to have a 90 amp alternator and at idle it would at least give me 14 volts on my capicator and at full load would only drop to 11. the new alternator is giving me 12 volts idle and dropping all the way down to 10 volts at load, I dont understand what is going on, only thing I can think is either it was a bad custom built alternator or would the belt be a problem, if its loose or something maybe not producing enough volts, any help would be appreciated, I bought the alternator from excessive amperage in alaska and he said it came with a 6 month warranty, what should I do?

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[Cabin_Pressure 10+ year member]

Troll?

 

[TnT_Sounds 10+ year member]

You have an amp clamp to see if any amps are going through?

Also did that fuse between the alt and battery possibly blow?

All else fails contact the company you got it from.

 

[Stephen_c 10+ year member]

EA=fail

 

[zbone1 10+ year member]

alright thanks for the help, imma try to retighten the belt a little bit and see if that helps, I went to a local autoparts store and they tested the alternator at idle and it showed up on their amp test as producing under 30 amps at idle... not satisfied at all, exspecially when you spent 350$ on the alternator itself... will be contacting them soon to see what to do, I did believe I did "the big 3" correctly, I left the original wiring and added the 2 gauge wiring, I really dont know what else to do... raining at the moment, only thing I can think that could be wrong is the belt I did hear some squeeling the first time it came out with the new alternator but now its not squeeling at all and the belt is still spinning the over drive pulley, you think if I use my stock pulley and put it on the new alternator it might help?

 

[zbone1 10+ year member]

could the problem be I have a 200 amp fuse from alternator to battery then only an 85 amp fuse from battery to amps?

or could the problem also be that I have 2 gauge wire from alternator to battery then battery has 4 gauge going to amps?

I dont see how this would make my voltage on my cap be lower... it has to be a bad alternator or something, maybe my car isnt idling high enough for it to produce the volts it needs at idle, maybe the over drive pulley on it is causing the issue... under 30 amps at idle is bad though I know that much...

 

[MmatsDude 10+ year member]

capicator?

decapitator?

i have had bad experience with EA.. should of gone with mechman

 

[lantz 10+ year member]

i've had an EA alternator for 2 years now and still running 14.3v at idle.call nate and tell him your problem. (334)712-9955

 

[zbone1 10+ year member]

when hooking the new alternator up would it of been a good idea to disconnect the capicitor or would it of really made a difference, I had the battery disconnected and I put in the new 2 gauge wire, and the 2 gauge wire is going from the alternator to the battery, and the amps and stuff is connected to the 2 gauge wire as well thats going to the battery, at the battery terminal.

 

[93dakota 10+ year member]

EA=fail

X2

 

[TurdFergueson2 5,000+ posts]

could the problem be I have a 200 amp fuse from alternator to battery then only an 85 amp fuse from battery to amps?
or could the problem also be that I have 2 gauge wire from alternator to battery then battery has 4 gauge going to amps?

I dont see how this would make my voltage on my cap be lower... it has to be a bad alternator or something, maybe my car isnt idling high enough for it to produce the volts it needs at idle, maybe the over drive pulley on it is causing the issue... under 30 amps at idle is bad though I know that much...

Go buy a digital multimeter and check the battery voltage while the car is running. It could be your battery as well.

 

[zbone1 10+ year member]

I had a car stereo guy sure I did the big three correctly, I did, he said the alternator was only putting out around 15 amps of juice lol... definitely not a good alternator, but nathon at excessive amperage said to just send it back, and imma send my old one for 50$ as well, and hes gonna fix the new one and send it back, not really a big deal, fairly easy to take out the alternator now that the wiring is all done, the guy at the car stereo place said it dropped all the way down to 10 volts... which is terrible, I only have a 1200 watt amp and a 400 watt amp, and I plan on adding a second 1200 watt amp thats under my bed, one 1200 watt amp on each sub. thanks for the help guys, some day I will get this done, I also plan on doing fiber glass all throughout my trunk, mostly so my speakers have more cubic feet to breath and so it will look better, I was told it was gonna cost 600$ is that a decent price or is it easy to do it yourself?