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Old 07-10-2019, 09:36 AM   #288
Blackbirdws6
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Location: Millstone Township, NJ
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TL;DR - Long term voltage issue with high RPM, alternator being spun too high, replaced alternator with proper pulley, life is good.

Long read:

Quick update. I've noticed a battery voltage issue even before the relocation of the battery where with RPM, I would see volts gradually drop during a pull. It never seemed to cause an issue with how the car ran but always bugged me. I was thinking it could have been poor belt alignment causing belt slip (always been off a rib on the balancer). I've lived with it for years since the blower first went on the car. The belt never chucked itself and it all worked so life went on.

Since I have this new bracket, now was the time to get the alignment right. Even with the alignment where it needs to be, volts still dropped during a pull which was enough to trigger the check gauges light on the dash.

After doing a bit of reading, it seemed that I may have a couple issues. One being that my alternator may be a bit tired but more prominently, I may be overspinning the alternator causing it to essentially shut down. Doing some quick math and guessing at the pulley size I had on the car, I was likely spinning the alternator to somewhere in the 22k+ range in the upper RPMs. Not good as most only want to spin to 16-18k. Oops.

Assuming the current alternator was trashed, I decided to spend money (Not shocking I know), and grabbed a 200A unit from Powermaster in matte black. I spoke to their tech folks who were very helpful and after doing the math, I needed to grab their 2.5" pulley to keep the idle and upper RPM speed within spec. A few days later, Summit got the package to me and Smash came up to toss it in. I was actually going to tackle this one myself but I decided to slip a disc in my back this prior weekend and while I was doing much better, needed to take it easy.

New alternator went in and guess what, it worked!! Volts were strong at idle and after taking it for a ride yesterday evening, voltage did not drop at all up to near redline. I also was dealing with a fuel pressure drop in the upper RPM range; I assume associated with the reduced voltage from the charging system. That is also cured as well. The fuel system has provided enough fuel but its not a good look to see the pressure dip when you likely need/want it the most.

One less thing....

Quote:
Originally Posted by IROCZman15 View Post
awesome update. good work dude!

I will be venturing into the battery relocation and on/off switch this winter as well. I haven't done too much research on it yet, but i'll revisit your thread and ask some questions when its time.
Thanks!
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