[phinsup]

Well I need to do this alternator thing ASAP, trying to get all the cars back on the road 100%, replaced the ignition in the Jeep, need a higher amp alternator in the AE BAD, my stereo completely drains it.

First off, what needs to be done to make the 3rd gen alternator work? I know it's load sensing where the s4 alt is not, is that a worry? Does something need to be re-wired? Next, pulley situation, just bore out banzai's dual pulley? Honestly if I can get this figured out, I'll have someone crank out a bunch of them for all of us, it would be nice to have a reliable source, that keeps the price where it starts instead of trying to gouge fellow rx-7 owner's ;)

So give me some info, let's make this shit happen, I'll get with banzai and see if he can bore the dual pulley's out a bit more for the 3rd gen alt, then we'd need to crank out some wiring harness and the cost of the alt... life would be good.

[phinsup]

Alrighty, I ordered a Powermasters 140 amp alternator, natural finish, I'll let you know how easy the install is when it gets here, if all is good I'll get a set up in the store and start blowing them out. My dealer did not have them in stock so I do not know how long it will take.

[ambassador_josh]

awesome. s4 alternater sucks goats for quarters

[phinsup]

Indeed! I hope to get it in within a week or two, I'll definetely keep everyone posted!

[1Revvin7]

My alternator just went out!

[phinsup]

1Revvin7, on May 29 2004, 06:12 PM, said:

My alternator just went out!

Well this is my estimate of costs on alternator:
1 - New 140 amp powermasters alternator $130 plus shipping
2 - Wiring pigtail $5.00 (estimate)
3 - Dual pulley $17.00, single free
4 - Bolts $5.00 (estimate)

Depending on what I gotta do to bore out the dual pulley, figure some fees for cc processing and a couple bucks for me, giving me about $15.00 for my time we're at $175 plus shipping, which is a shitload cheaper then the FD Alternator aternative I have seen around which is now up to $190 for a reman 100 amp.

[j9fd3s]

i think i can come up with the s4 alternator plugs

[phinsup]

j9fd3s, on May 29 2004, 06:20 PM, said:

i think i can come up with the s4 alternator plugs

Alrighty let me know, this model of alternator is on a fuggin crapload of GM cars and Jeeps, in fact the Jeep factory setup has a pigtail on it. I dunno if the local parts store will have the pigtail or not....

[phinsup]

I'll post up all the part #'s for those that want to do it theirselves too! err, when I figure out what all the parts are LOL

[mazdadrifter]

i think the shaft on the s6 is a little shoter than the s4, but since your going with an aftermarket then that doesn't count.

That is, however, something that needs to be taken into account. (the correct spacing fore to aft to line the belts up w/ the water pump.

[j9fd3s]

can prolly make the spacers too if someone gets demensions

[phinsup]

Yea I'll get some dims when I get this alternator here, hard to say we'll see whats up with the s4 then go from there.

[Rob x-7]

every auto parts store I have ever been in has the pigtails in
stock at all times, shouldnt be hard to find, very common

[Cheers!]

i bored banzai's alternator pulley out for a friend on a mill. It works fine. The only bad thing i have to say about the pulley is it is damn heavy.

[djgiantrobot]

here is my take on this, pretty lengthy,

I have mine setup to run on the stock FD pulley, i had to change the lower and waterpump pulleys to the 13b cosmo units and shift the alternator foward in order to get the belt to align properly and also to clear my IC pipe. As far as rewiring, anyone running a relay is wrong, anyone arguing over which wire goes on the top and which ones goes on the bottom is also wrong.

solder the L plug to the dash warning light and the S plug to B+ (battery constant). Doing otherwise will make the alternator think that is needs to be charging the battery when the car is off and can fry the internal regulator, it will also create a high output condition while the car is running, thats why people are seeing 14.7V and think its a good thing, it isn't.

here is a pic of the washer shims, if you mod the Vbelt pulley to work, you won't have to deal with this i think.
http://i.xanga.com/Supergiantrobot/DSC01502.JPG

This post has been edited by djgiantrobot: 30 May 2004 - 12:37 PM

[djgiantrobot]

my alt was 165 shipped new from canada.

[phinsup]

djgiantrobot, on May 30 2004, 10:42 AM, said:

my alt was 165 shipped new from canada.

Yea well that price has went up ;) I'd like to get something that's lower then the new $190 plus shipping price, new and puts out more power!

We'll see how this alternator I ordered bolts up and go from there. It doesn't have the ears, it mounts on the inside of the mounting plate. Hoping to eliminate the lack of adjustment that Mazdadrifter found after he did the FD swap. I'm sure if I'll have to bore this alternator or not, the dual pulley might slip right on and for guys that don't need the dual pulley or already have it are looking at $158

[phinsup]

djgiantrobot, on May 30 2004, 10:36 AM, said:

solder the L plug to the dash warning light and the S plug to B+ (battery constant).  Doing otherwise will make the alternator think that is needs to be charging the battery when the car is off and can fry the internal regulator, it will also create a high output condition while the car is running, thats why people are seeing 14.7V and think its a good thing, it isn't.

Shit I need to tell Kris to do that, it's because the FD alternator is Load sensing.

[ColinRX7]

I am a little suspicious of the wiring on my FD alternator. I *think* it works fine but if I left the car for a week the battery would be weak.

We went in depth on the evil forum a while ago, I'll pull it up later on and bring the general idea over here. I'm tired from travelling right now but normally I have lots of good things to say about the FD alternator.

Only one being was the wiring which was just a guess, could have been a weak battery on my part too.

I'll post more bits later when I gather everything..

[ColinRX7]

BTW I had followed instruction perfect for my wiring so as per the guys who did the info digging mine was up to snuff. But I was a little suspicious after reading a few things and a discussion we had a while ago, and I left my car for a week and when I came back the battery was very weak. Apparently the load on battery wasn't enough to make a notice if you drove the car each day when you started it in the morning. But leaving it for a week was another story.

This post has been edited by ColinRX7: 30 May 2004 - 06:12 PM

[djgiantrobot]

your car is wired incorrectly, its quite simple, the alternator sees 0V when the car is off and the regulator tries to charge the battery, thus draining the battery. This load is about 1A, hopefully your regulator isn't fried and you can still correct this problem. I can say for a fact that until i figured this one out on my own, 100% of everything i read online about how to do the wiring was WRONG. Please read as EVERY ONLINE WRITEUP IS WRONG.

I have contributed to this site and they now have it correct
http://www.rx7.org/

[phinsup]

Yer welcome to do a write up for the FAQ section here. The alternator I ordered is not load sensing, it's just like the s4 alternator so there shouldn't be any ecu wiring necessary, should be a plug in the pigtail and roll with it. Like I said before hopefully I'll get this rolling before I am off on vacation.

[mazdadrifter]

djgiantrobot, on May 30 2004, 09:36 AM, said:

solder the L plug to the dash warning light and the S plug to B+ (battery constant).  Doing otherwise will make the alternator think that is needs to be charging the battery when the car is off and can fry the internal regulator, it will also create a high output condition while the car is running, thats why people are seeing 14.7V and think its a good thing, it isn't.

what's the easiest way to get to the dash warning light? does the idiot cluster just pull out of there? or maybe a is there a wire that i can tap into below the dash?

[phinsup]

mazdadrifter, on May 30 2004, 08:59 PM, said:

what's the easiest way to get to the dash warning light?  does the idiot cluster just pull out of there? or maybe a is there a wire that i can tap into below the dash?

The cluster is actually pretty easy to get too, it's only a few screws.

[ColinRX7]

I rearranged the wires in the harness plug in my '86 to fit an 88+ style (darker shaded, not back-lit) idiot cluster while the dash was still in place. There should be lots of space to play with. Just be careful not to break the bezel.

Pry it up from the bottom with a flathead screwdriver (carefully), then remove the two screws holding the cluster in place and pull it out, the harness is all right there.