For 2 years my car has ate alternators.

My voltage is never at 14, unless its right when I start it. Then as time progress's it slowly dwindles down to around 13. So I guess that involves the heat.

I haven't drove it at night, until tonight and it drops down to 11volts.

With the AC on, headlights on, and my red LED underglow on, its at 10.5 - 11 volts idle. Makes the headlights dim, and my car weak as ****. I think this alternators about to die.

I've had one die on me before. And I replaced it with this one.

Do you think I have something wrong with my car that causes it to eat alternators?

 

yeah the red LED underglow is wrong, rice

 

+1 haha i hate underglow

 

Agreed. But to steer you in the direction of an answer, have you been swapping in stock replacement alternators when they die on you? The underglow may be sucking to much power when it's on, and may even be shorting the system when it's off during the day.

I had the same problem, but from my UD pulley, not underglow. You may want to consider a high output alternator, I now have a 220 amp beast that you could run a Metallica concert off of. Just a thought.

 

Whered you get your 220 amp?

And to add I also have a soundsystem..

 

Does the answer not seem obvious to you?

 

Well there you go. Running that many extra accessories+ stock setup =dead alternator. Ppl don't realize they can't keep throwing **** at their car and not upgrade the battery/alternator.

I got mine off of DB Electrical's website, they're based in Tennessee and sell all that you will need. They've got less powerful alternators too if you don't wanna go too big, but I'd recommend a lil' more if you got a system/underglow. Round $200. A word of caution though, they sent me a faulty one the first time that would overcharge my system, but I swapped it out, and they paid for shipping and all. Feel free to shop around, never know what you'll find.

 

I went to advance auto today and let them take a look. The thingy said the battery was fine.

Then on the other test, it said "Suspect 2.5V"

And they said it had a charging system failure.

Which my cars never went dead yet, but with the a/c and headlights, and neons and soundsystem, my volts drop to 10. And it will get weak and miss and all that.

 

Well I found this one.

http://www.dbelectrical.com/Items/ho...2004%20%208266

and

http://www.dbelectrical.com/Items/ho...2004%20%208266


Which would you go with.. 20 amps difference and 20 dollars difference.

Also, did you add the 4 gauge wire with an inline fuse?

 

Thats not a bad deal for 200. You should upgrade the wiring or risk melting the stock one when running a bunch of stuff. One more thing make sure the positive and negative wires are not corroded as well as the wiring going to the alternator as this may cause the new one to fail as well.

 

Well, to be honest 200 amps is a ****-ton of power either way, which should be more than fine. Depends on whether you want the extra feeling of security for 20 bucks. I only got the 220 because I didn't want to have to deal with charging problems ever again. It's up to you.

I bought the wire but the local shop said it didn't need to be installed. They sell it because the power output of the new amp may melt the stock gauged wire, but they were confident that the wire was fine. Maybe DB just wants more money, but I haven't melted yet.

Also, there is a danger of frying another car's electrical system if you jump them because of the high power, but you can still be jumped as normal. Best of luck.

 

Okay guys. I'm gonna place my order over the next few days. I wont be home till like 2 weeks, and everything will be in, I'll do my install, and i'll give an update then.

While i'm in on it, i'm gonna go ahead and get a HID kit from www.spikemotoring.com

Then next up I gotta put an 8.8 underneath it, cause i cant find axles for a 7.5 where one is warped....

 

Yeah let me know. I'm the only one I know who has this high of amperage so only time will tell if the car rejects it down the road. If I fry I'll give you word real quick haha.

 

Just tried to buy the alternator, but their websites messed up.It wont let me add anything to cart, and when i sign in with my account, it doesnt work either. its making me mad. I'm going to try later. Did you experience this problem?

 

nah not at all. It was anything but troublesome. Maybe give 'em a call, and if that doesn't work there's other places. Sorry it's not goin smoothly man I wouldn't have suggested it if I knew.

 

Won't a higher amp alternator make more off a parasitic loss though?

All you're doing is running a bigger electric motor basically.

The answer was pretty obvious, but thats besides the point....

 

thats kinda confusing, But its the same size, they just have a different wind up im guessing that causes the extra electrical charge.

I think if it were at all possible, i could get by if my car had an overdrive pulley on the alternator. Either way the alternators dying on me.

 

Processed my order.. Had to do it over the phone! But we got it goin! They said the website was new and had just launched over the past couple of days. But I ordered a "200ampER" as he called it, and I ordered a 5000K HID kit from SPIKEAFRICA! I'm excited! I'll have these mod's installed next thursday or friday! I'll keep you all posted!

 

I have an UD pulley on my alternator.

 

So yours would probably equal back out.

Since the UD pulley slows it down.

 

Hopefully. Still enuff power but not extra parasitic loss

 

Installed the new alternator today.

Drove it a little but im heading out when its dark to see how much difference it's made.

I turned hi beams on, ac on, and full fan speed, and listenend to rap, and charged ipod and gps unit and didnt drop below 13.5 volts.

My car isnt weak anymore with the A/C on either.

SO FAR -- I reccomend DB Electrical.

 

Drove it to town. Did a couple stops at redlights, with the AC on, and it drops, but quickly pulls itself back up.

ON THE PULLEY - I noticed a sticker, it said please use this OVERDRIVE pulley for maximum performance at low RPM.

I left it on, and works like a charm!

Thanks for reccomending me to DB electrical!

 

On the drive home tonight. My battery light kicked on.

And my voltage dropped to 12.

If i reved it really hard the light would go off and it would raise back up to 14 volts.

It continutally did it, every so often but then stopped as i got a couple miles from home..

Could my new alternator be going bad? Or is there a loose connection somewhere? Could the serpentine belt be slipping?

 

Make sure the belt is not worn and tension pulley is good and making belt tight.

 

new alternator completely died on me yesterday. I was getting ready to leave for prom, had my white suit on and had to put my old alternator on in like 15..

Anyways, theyve agreed to send a replacement, so i'm shipping it in and getting another. I guess I just got a faulty one.

 

Jeez man, bad luck i guess.

 

Okay, I recieved my repaired alternator, they replaced the rotor and regulator.

I havent installed it yet, and wanna know why?

I always like spinning pulleys, or things that spin, so spining it very little, i notice that the pulleys warped. I look on the front, and it looks like someone dropped the alternator off the top of a 10 story building, right on the tip of the pulley.

Sent an email, DEMANDED a new pulley be shipped my way, they promptly replied, and have the new pulley on the way.

Hopefully it works when I put it on. Or else, I'm gonna drive down there and take my car and put an alternator on it till it works.

 

Damn dude. Funny cuz my first alternator was bad too, it was a bad voltage reg. Second one has been on awhile tho and so far so good. Hopefully they're the last one's we"ll ever need.