New Alt.

[Bobby322 10+ year member]

Just bought a new alt - second one on this page http://www2.partstrain.com/store/index.php?Ntt=Alternator&N=1696+11488+4294965713+11921 Its a 100 amp. Will this be enough juice? Heres the problems I have been having:

- Car dies ALOT (w/o system or headlights even on)

- System wont turn on when headlights are on

- System dies everytime I hit the brakes (brake lights go on)

- System dies when the bass hits hard

I think I am also going to do the big 3, or at least replace SOME wire with bigger wire. Will the 100 amp alt. be enough? Any idea on what my stock alt. is? ITs a 1973 plymouth duster, with a 360 replacing the 340.

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[PhatTonyDeMarco 5,000+ posts]

What is the current amperage of your alternator? It cant be lower than ~90A with that size motor, I would actualy imagine that it is over 100.

What does your system entail for power? You should have deffintily gone 200A or higher, regardless of what you have now but that will ensure that you have the room for when you decide to get a larger amp.

The big three should be done, regardless of headlight dimming.

Have you looked at your battery as the problem? That seems like it might be a weak link as well, what model do you have?

 

[Bobby322 10+ year member]

Dunno what my current alternator size is.

Nah I dont think my system needs more power.

My batter is brand new. And its deff. not under sized.

 

[andrew2944r 10+ year member]

grounding issues maybe..

 

[PhatTonyDeMarco 5,000+ posts]

What made you decide on 100A? Hell, I used to own a Buick Century, 4.6 v6, and it had 110A stock.

100A is nothing buddy, barely anything left for your system after the primary accessories take their power.

Why are you asking this now that you have ordered it already?

 

[Bobby322 10+ year member]

I dont see how my grounds are bad. I looked at the batt. neg to engine and it looked normal...just a bolt through. Same as the ground to chassis. It wouldnt have anything to do with my amp ground I dont think, cause my car dies alot when my system isnt even on.

 

[Bobby322 10+ year member]

What made you decide on 100A? Hell, I used to own a Buick Century, 4.6 v6, and it had 110A stock.
100A is nothing buddy, barely anything left for your system after the primary accessories take their power.

Why are you asking this now that you have ordered it already?

I didnt really pick it out or pay for it lol. Dad did that... My system only is 2 12's...

 

[audioarsonal 10+ year member]

It sounds like a bad battery.Have yo had it load tested?Your alt may be bad as well.What is your voltage with the vehicle running?It should be around 14v.

 

[Bobby322 10+ year member]

Battery is BRAND new

 

[Cabin_Pressure 10+ year member]

Are you sure the car is dying from a charging problem? Sounds like you have more problems than just your voltage.

 

[brian84corvette 10+ year member]

I had posted in your other thread,

but back in the day before fuel injection and hei ignitions,

cars had little for electrical needs. it was common to have alternators

giving off 75a or less from pre 1975.

so - you might be ok with your 100a alternator.

did you ever get your car home ? were you able to check voltage on the battery with the car running ? was it above 13.5v ?

edit -

is your car currently using electronic ignition ? or old school points in the distributer ?

I ask - as it takes a good amount of electrical energy to make electronic igintion systems work properly

and if your having voltage issues / grounding issues - the electronic ignition is probly why your car keeps

dying on you.

 

[Bobby322 10+ year member]

I had posted in your other thread,but back in the day before fuel injection and hei ignitions,

cars had little for electrical needs. it was common to have alternators

giving off 75a or less from pre 1975.

so - you might be ok with your 100a alternator.

did you ever get your car home ? were you able to check voltage on the battery with the car running ? was it above 13.5v ?

Yeah I got it home, gave it a few jumps. Died on the way back once. Havent gotten to check the voltage. But the battery is brand new.

 

[brian84corvette 10+ year member]

this tool is going to be your new best friend.

use it everywhere there are electrical wires in your car.

test voltage and or ohm rating at the begining and end of every wire you can find.

your car is 1973? I had a 72 pontiac lemans - and time does wonders on old cars.

I had to replace about 1/3 of all electrical wires in my car, due to the actual wires getting tore up and being terrible at conducting electricity.

 

[subfrontier 10+ year member]

did you try to see if the car still runs after you remove one of wires from the battery post.

 

[Bobby322 10+ year member]

I have a DMM but its the old style, not digital.

Why would I want to remove a wire and see if it still runs?