Found the cure to our alternator woes!!!

[BUMPSTICKS]

This has been debated hundreds of times on here.

You said you found the "CURE" but people that have pullied cars with 180 amp alternators/ under spun / are still having failures. So much for the all those underspun 180-220 PA alts that failed years ago; and they had the best internal parts (guess they wernt fireproof)LOL.

When your alternator is getting hot enough to start a fire,reducing the temps by a few degrees with a higher amp alt and underspinning wont help.

The REAL test: put 35,000 miles on the alt with and upper and lower combo!

I purchased 4 alts so far, all underspun and one underspun PA-180 amp. the best was the ford 35,000 miles

I just purchased another new Ford Alt because they have the best longevity. With the 3.2 alt pulley it may last 35,000 miles.

I agree with your point 3. HEAT.

The real cure is relocating the alt and putting it in a larger case that can disperse the HEAT. Or find a way to cool the back of the alternator.

When your 180amp, start n charge, underspun alt fails at 35,000 miles; open it up and remove all the burnt and melted parts and post the research!


Your quote:
BTW, I posted this to help all the other members out, not to have a friggin debate. My alternator, as well as a few others I've tested, run perfect slowed down. I have also noticed a much lower temperature at the alternator. I don't really care what the article from chevy high performance, or the ford tech says. It works for me and it works better!

Guys do what you want with the research I've done. In the end it really has no effect on me at all. I just thought I'd give everyone a heads up.

[/QUOTE]

I don't have a 180 amp alternator. Star N Charge has the knowledge to determine that anything over 160 amps on our small frame alts is too much. I have personaaly seen the internals of a PA alternaotr and I am not suprised they fail quite often. Keep using ford if it works for you. I'll stick with what I know.

I have had a couple ford alternators fail on my car. Not one actually caught on fire. If you keep having alternator catch on fire internally, perhaps it's something you are doing wrong? Or it could just be bad luck.

 

[Saleen281sc]

This has been debated hundreds of times on here.

You said you found the "CURE" but people that have pullied cars with 180 amp alternators/ under spun / are still having failures. So much for the all those underspun 180-220 PA alts that failed years ago; and they had the best internal parts (guess they wernt fireproof)LOL.

When your alternator is getting hot enough to start a fire,reducing the temps by a few degrees with a higher amp alt and underspinning wont help.

The REAL test: put 35,000 miles on the alt with and upper and lower combo!

I purchased 4 alts so far, all underspun and one underspun PA-180 amp. the best was the ford 35,000 miles

I just purchased another new Ford Alt because they have the best longevity. With the 3.2 alt pulley it may last 35,000 miles.

I agree with your point 3. HEAT.

The real cure is relocating the alt and putting it in a larger case that can disperse the HEAT. Or find a way to cool the back of the alternator.

When your 180amp, start n charge, underspun alt fails at 35,000 miles; open it up and remove all the burnt and melted parts and post the research!

[/QUOTE]

I agree. Don't get all pissed off, BUMPSTICKS when you claim to have a cure but then find out your "research" showing that the Cobra alt pulley spins 3x as fast as the crankshaft pulley is actually just common engineering on modern alternators. I appreciate the time you put into it, but you also don't want people running out and swapping pulleys because they read their alt is "overspinning".

I backed it up with an article from Super Chevy, and I also found the same info (albeit in different terms) from Jaime of Start-N-Charge over in a big thread on Mod Fords. Its not a debate..its not a put down..its a fact that ALL alternators are overspinning in todays cars.

Its pretty simple..the Ford hi-amp alternators do not start charging until 2400 or so RPMs..so they are DESIGNED to spin at high RPMS..they have to.

Now- I totally agree with the heat assessment. Could be Ford didn't know the S/C Cobra engine compartment would get as hot as does. Could be a design flaw. Could be as you pointed out- guys truly overspinning them by making numerous 7000 rpm passes down the track.

My Cobra has 36,000 track free miles on it..normal everday driving for the most part...still has the original alternator on it- going strong.

My buddies 03..68,000 miles on it..been to the track a few times..still on the original alternator.

Overspinning is not the cause of the failure's, IMO.

 

[03yellow]

Bumpsticks: I think we ought to Tar and Feather you. LOL

Sorry for coming across so harsh: just tired of spending $$$ on alternators.
I can change one out in about 35 mins. now!!!:banana:epper:

 

[jm@ReischePerf]

As predicted we are now seeing failures with the start-n-charge alts because they are starting to see some milage.

I agree with everything you've said with the exception of this. I've had several conversations with Jamie over the course of the production of his Terminator alts. The vast majority of the failures have been related to a specific weakness with the rotor connections and not the typical diode plate or regulator meltdown. As a result he has used a few different rotor mfgs plus modifications to correct the issue. The last we spoke he had not had a rotor failure with the latest revision. I believe that the Start 'n Charge alt is highest quality alt available for this app but there will always be a learning process involved with developing a new product, especially something with many parts put in a highly demanding app like this. Regardless Ford will not offer you the support that Jamie will when their product fails.

I too have dealt with many alt failures and I have also played the underspinning a high amp unit game. I learned that if you underspin it too much you sometimes see voltage dropping at idle when there are a lot of elec accessories running. The problem with the alts on these cars is multifaceted and I just don't believe there is one simple solution. Plenty of people have had underspun alts fail, we have been discussing this issue for years now.

I have always felt one of the most compelling issues is that you don't get any warning indicator when voltage dips into the 11s or even 10V. And when the capacity of the batt starts to diminish the load on the alt is increased. The alt is constantly trying to charge the failing batt and this can be a death sentence for it eventually. And you will never know this is happening unless you're carefully monitoring an aftermarket voltage gauge. I think in many cases this is the final nail in the coffin.

 

[TwinTurbo4vGT]

wow i cant believe there are so many people with problems. Ive had my DB Electric 240A alt for a while.

 

[ram360]

good read!

 

[racebronco2]

I have a start n charge alternator. My 5th alternator went out. I talked to bumpsticks at a place in the valley about his alternator problems. I bought mine after he posted his experience with jamie. I have the 3.2 pulley and my car charges at 14.5 at idle. At wot the s-n-c alternator is at 13.6 volts where as the stock unit would be in the mid to low 12's. If and when mine does go out i surely will be posting it. I will be adding some kind of ducting to keep it cool. In fact i have an extra nascar brake fan that i can use.

 

[fiveohfanatic]

I just bought a cobra, havent had any of the alt failure problems yet. If its heat thats killing the alt, why not route an air duct in the engine bay for example like the ducts for the brakes that come off the fog light cups? My car has these, and I dont see it being hard to mount a tee into that duct to deflect air towards the alt.

Just a thought.

 

[sallen85]

sub

 

[cobracide]

Start n charge burnt down. Don't know the status.

 

[T-Pain808]

Makes sense to me.

 

[jm@ReischePerf]

Start n charge burnt down. Don't know the status.

Actually talked to Jamie about this and he said the insurance company is screwing with him so he won't be producing alts for at least a couple months... sucks

 

[KILRSVT]

dang onmy 3rd alt here...the stock unit lasted me 62k i bought a cheap rebuild from a local rebuilder and it lasted me 2k and gave me another warranty alt and it failed....so my next one will be from tousley...hopefully this one will last me 60k as well...

 

[vjay88]

Great write-up. Most of what you said in your post has been discussed in the past but you have definitely added some important technical info and have stated the problem is a nice concise way. Excellent job!

This is one reason why I recommend a Start 'n Charge Performance Alternator from Jamie McClinton. He has worked on alternators for over 20 years and basically what he sells is a high performance version of the OEM. If you want any more info, call Jamie at (509) 447-0289.

+1 for start 'n charge. Awesome guy to deal with. Alternator fixed my electrical woes.

 

[VADEi2]

I had Nate at a local shop here in town upgrade my alternator to 120 amp. At WOT pulling to 7k rpm's we were seeing 14 volts all the way. I rewired the alternator based on his instructions to key on power. I will ask Nate to chime in here he can better explain it.

All Out Performance

3455 S. Golden State Fresno, CA 93725
559.999.2265 (Nathan)
559.709.3318 (Steve)

 

[90lxfox5.0]

Ford shuts the alternator off at wot causing lots of issues,mainly with spark blow out and high fuel system duty cylces but also by not charging at wot it puts a heavy load on battery then putting extra demand on the alternator when it does come back on.I own a 03 cobra myself and did lots of work on this,as adrian said i have a fix and it works,requires a internal mod and alittle bit of wiring but fixs the problem of not wot charging.Ive data logged many of cars ive done this fix on and i see over 13 volts from 2500 to 7000 rpm,the stock system falls off the sec you go wot,and is only worse if you have alot of loads like nitrous and other stuff.I opened my spark gap from .018 to .028 after this mod and it flat works,will lower your fuep pump driver heat and increase pump output.

 

[black 10th vert]

I just bought a cobra, havent had any of the alt failure problems yet. If its heat thats killing the alt, why not route an air duct in the engine bay for example like the ducts for the brakes that come off the fog light cups? My car has these, and I dont see it being hard to mount a tee into that duct to deflect air towards the alt.

Just a thought.

This exactly what I plan to do on my car. One duct on the driver's side to cool the alt., and one on the other side to send some air up to the air cleaner. Since we are fortunate enough to have the duct holes there from the factory, why not make use of them! Unless you are roadracing/autocrossing, they really aren't needed to cool the brakes inmo.

 

[GodStang]

Great write up

 

[N/Angel]

subscribing...

 

[ImportsSuk]

Ford shuts the alternator off at wot causing lots of issues,mainly with spark blow out and high fuel system duty cylces but also by not charging at wot it puts a heavy load on battery then putting extra demand on the alternator when it does come back on.I own a 03 cobra myself and did lots of work on this,as adrian said i have a fix and it works,requires a internal mod and alittle bit of wiring but fixs the problem of not wot charging.Ive data logged many of cars ive done this fix on and i see over 13 volts from 2500 to 7000 rpm,the stock system falls off the sec you go wot,and is only worse if you have alot of loads like nitrous and other stuff.I opened my spark gap from .018 to .028 after this mod and it flat works,will lower your fuep pump driver heat and increase pump output.

would like to know more about this plz :read: