I had my alternator rebuilt for 200 amps. It's on the car now and I can't get it to do anything. The gauge is on 11.6 or whatever voltage the battery has. It just keeps slowly wearing the battery down. I had it tested and its fine but on the car it won't do anything. The belt is'nt slippipping, the grounds are all good, I have 12v to the little red signal wire and I can't figure this out. It's internally regulated if that makes a difference. Anybody have any ideas at all.

 

When you change the amps of it, you may have to under/overdive it with a new pulley to get the right voltage.

 

i think our alternators charge depending on load. if theres a high load which drains the battery then the alternator charges more. try idling with ever imaginable accesory on, stereo full blast headlights, highbeams, flashers, dome lights, that should draw enough current to see a different on your gauge. mine doe sthis as well, it will just sit there below 12 or around it and when i turn on my subs or whatever the alternator starts charging higher because theres a load. just a suggestion.

 

Thanks for the replys I'll give it a try

 

try disconnecting the alternator cable and running the engine. Then measure to see what you are getting off the alternator. That way the battery is taken out of the picture and you can see exactly what is happening with the alternator.

 

It has underdrive pullyes on already and I tried lastnight to turn on all the lights and stereo but the gauge never moved execpt down a little bit.

 

try this....

 

You must have power to the small "exciter" lead to turn on the alternator. Make sure you have power to it when the key is ON. Running the alternator with the battery cable off can fry the alternator.

 

woops.....bad advice on my part... It seemed like a good plan

 

thanks for the replys. Still can't get it to work any other ideas

 

Have you verified that the wire in the snap on plug is connected properly and it's hot when the key is on?

And have you tested the voltage on the battery cable stud on the back of the alternator with it running?

Most alternators have to spin up to a certain speed to "cut in" or start charging. Have you tried revving the motor up to like 1000 or 1500 RPM, then seeing if it's started charging?

If the alternator tests good off the car, then it has to be a wire issue. Either the wire in the snap on plug is messed up, disconnected or not fully connected, or the cable to the battery is no good.

Who tested the alternator for you? The place that rebuilt it? Have someone else test it for you.

 

Autozone does it for free....

 

Just curious what you paid to have this done ?

I paid $335 for a 220 amp alternator from http://www.kilbyenterprises.com/mean_green.htm

Marc

 

Whats the deal with oscar. And why did you use such a huge alternator?

 

OSCAR allows me to run LS-1 coil packs and get rid of the issues associated with an optispark. I am running around with the prototype and OSCAR's will be for sale shortly

I am running alot of electrical stuff and I'd run out of juice to supply my twin intank fuel pumps when running the stock alternator. I probably could've gotten by with a Powermaster 200 amp from Summit but for an extra $30 I got an additional 20 amp's. I am drawing about 70 amps to run all my stuff and when I would get on it the fuel pressure would drop into the low 20's

Marc