hey guys im having some trouble with my car...its an 85 nissan 300zx and my alternator keeps going out...ive gone through 2 in the last month, anyways its a 70 amp alternator, and i cant figure out if my alternator isnt big enough to power my system or if i have a short circuit somewhere in my wiring...im noteven sure if they make high output alternators for this old of a car but i dont know how much they cost either...i imagine around 4 or 5 hundred? anyways any help would be great... o ya i have 2 12 w6's and my amp puts out about 1000 real watts and my amp for my speakers puts out about 250... adam
Um if your puttin out 1000 REAL watts than you really need a new high output alternator. Also you need to upgrade and replace "the big three" as in -wire from alternator to battery -wire from battery to chassis -wire from engine block to chassis Also do not replace with anything smaller than 4 gauge. Try http://www.4alterstart.com/ http://www.autoelectricpart.com/ http://www.alternatorparts.com/ http://www.mean-green.com/index.html http://www.mechman.com/home.html http://www.wranglernw.com/ http://www.mralternator.com/ Check em out or call them and ask around.
i did block to chassis and battery to chassis with 2 gaugue wire but i dont know hwere to ground something on the alternator...
also, if i get a new high output alternator, wont that use more power and therefore my car will be slower? i really dont want that...what about adding another battery?
Depends...your car will prolly not be noticeably slower. There is no ground wire on the alternator because the ground is the alternator case itself. You need to replace the POWER wire that goes from your alt. to your battery. Once all of three of these wires are replaced you will see the full benefits of a HO alt.
Just curious, Does the vehicle have power steering? And, is there a possibility that the power steering pump or fittings are possibly leaking onto the alternator? This happened in my Eclipse GSX. I, and the auto electric guys could not isolate the problem for a few months. Power steering fluid will knock an alternator out in a hurry. My Eclipse had 300WHP and when I upgraded my alternator I certainly noticed a difference in Hp loss. More drag on the engine= less horsepower. I never got to try it, but I have heard you can remedy the problem with lightened pulleys. better than nothing.
