Retrofitting an alternator

[dennit469 10+ year member]

sup guys!? I currently am looking for a high output alternator for my car. Ive looked around before but all i can seem to find are altys pushing 220 amps (+ or - 30amps). In short, i need more power. Do any of you guys with foreign cars know where to get pretty beastly H/O alts? or know somewhere you can get it rebuilt to more than 220 amps? i drive a Lexus IS300 with a stock 100 amp alty. It seems to me there is ALOT more electrical BS on this car than the same year (01) American made cars, i had my alt wire come loose one time and the car drove literally 5 minutes before i had to pull over because of the engine dying in and out due to no charge in the battery. The battery wasnt bad, i actually still have the same one currently. On the other hand my explorer i used to have drove a good 30 minutes to my house with the alternator unhooked (was doing BIG 3 at a friends and ran out of supplys) and it still was running fine pulling in the driveway. So my question is, can i retrofit one of these badass altys for american made cars thats pushing many amps on my car with little work? Is there any type of kit i can buy with brackets already made for retrofitting to my exact car? i would prefer buying an alty that bolts right up or having my spare sent off to be built up.....but if thats out of the question, retrofitting is my next step. And i need help!

Click to read more...

 

[jypsiDRIVER 10+ year member]

Ohio alternator company

Look in to them they rebuild alternators for high output applications 'like car stereo'

Costly but they can double what your current alternator can do.

 

[dennit469 10+ year member]

Ohio alternator company
Look in to them they rebuild alternators for high output applications 'like car stereo'

Costly but they can double what your current alternator can do.

doubling what my alternator can currently do would be the same as me buying the 220 amp alt thats already available, i need more power than that

 

[jypsiDRIVER 10+ year member]

doubling what my alternator can currently do would be the same as me buying the 220 amp alt thats already available, i need more power than that

they rebuild alternators for specific applications.

If you call them and tell them what you need they can make it for you.

 

[helotaxi 5,000+ posts]

Why do you need more than 220A? Plan on playing sine waves on several kW continuously?

 

[Sarthos 10+ year member]

yes, you can retrofit an alternator to work. The GM single wire alternator is your best bet, it requires a single wire to turn it on when your car is on. The only question is getting a bracket to work for it.

 

[jypsiDRIVER 10+ year member]

yes, you can retrofit an alternator to work. The GM single wire alternator is your best bet, it requires a single wire to turn it on when your car is on. The only question is getting a bracket to work for it.

brackets are easy if you have any experience in metal working or fabrication.

did any of this help OP?

 

[Sarthos 10+ year member]

Yes, brackets are easy to make, getting the pulleys to line up right so you don't shred a belt every few hundred miles is the tricky part. Sometimes your factory bracket is actually close enough that you can make it work by grinding the insides of it and using some washers to move the alternator a tiny bit to make the pulleys line up right. Otherwise a bracket is relatively easy to make.

 

[helotaxi 5,000+ posts]

Of course there's also the high likelihood that his alt is regulated through the engine computer and must be compatible...

 

[dennit469 10+ year member]

Of course there's also the high likelihood that his alt is regulated through the engine computer and must be compatible...

when i was doing the big 3 on my current alternator there was one wire that came from the alternator, it went up through the fuse/relay box next to the battery. instead of completly bypassing the box by doing the big 3 i ran a line of 0awg from the alternator to the battery. ill post diagram in a few minutes..