88/89 cv police pkg alternator size and wiring help?!?!

[Jason91GM]

so when i was at the junkyard today, i found an 88 or 89 vic with the police package 5.8... and i got the alternator and regulator from it. looks big, has an external voltage regulator and looks clean like maybe it had been a replacement, got it for $20. anyways, does anyone have any idea what the output is on it? 100amp? 110amp? is there a diagram or site that anyone knows of with an easy way to wire it up to my 1991 GM? thanks for any info!

[trwp72]

!00 Amp alt...

Should be a 100 amp.. but it can be "tweaked" all the way up to like 180... I had one that was 130 amps once... but the higher the amps the shorter the life due to the heat.... Find a wiring diagram in one of the chilton manuals... oh, and go back and get the wiring harness if you didn't snag it.. and the mount.. as it is different... be sure and get the brace that goes down to the front of the intake.... helps keep it from shaking.... Tom...

[Lincolnmania]

should have snagged a 130 amp 3ag from a 91 up taurus/sable/continental...........puttin that monster in is gonna require some extensive rewiring

[qazvick]

putting in the 130amp alter from a 91 up tarus/sable/continental is going to require extensive rewiring? Or the alternator that jason got is going to require extensive rewiring?

[Jason91GM]

thanks for the info guys. i looked in my haynes manual, 65 and 100 amp diagrams on the same page, perfect to compare. i compared the harnesses, and it appears that the wiring is almost identical, just routed differently, only problem is the 100 has 1 less wire than the 65... but it may be something i can tap into on the regulator. ill figure it out! ill have it done tommorow i hope.... cause right now if i disconnect the battery it stays running, if i turn on the headlights its fine, but if i have them on and turn the fan on, it quits. so i dont think my 65 is doin enough for me. wish me luck!

[gadget73]

The 3g internally regulated alternator is almost a perfect swap in. The one he got with the external regulator requires a lot of re-wiring.

Go back and get the sway bars off it and ship them to me!

there will be plenty of sway bars at scottfest... rear ones at least.

[Jason91GM]

UPDATE! i returned the 100 amp alt... and about getting a 3AG from a Taurus or something... dont do that. The upper mount hole is not in the right place.. its too tall. The alternator from a ('94) v6 cougar is 130 amps, same newer style wiring so its an easy conversion, mounts are in the right place, but only prob is that the lower mounting hole is too small for the bolts we use, so i have to drill it out on the press, no biggie.i may work on that in a little bit, or wait til tommorow. wish me luck!

[Brown_Muscle]

so quick question to add on, I have the 5.8L police package as well, and I noticed the alternator is almost twice the size of the standard ones in the junk yard that I see, I suppose mines just 100 AMPs as well? Seems like a very small amount for such a large alternator. but then again the power figures for the engine seem small for it's size too haha

[gadget73]

yep, 100 amp on the cop cars usually.


was a bit weird seeing the OP's name pop back up on the forums. He died in 2006....

[Brown_Muscle]

omg, what happened?

[DuceAnAHalf]

motorcycle accident.

and like Gadget said weird, what makes it even weirder is that i was just reading a blog by his sister on myspace about him

[Grand Marquis GT]

It was strange seeing this too. I miss the only other person authorized to call his GMGT a GMGT :cry: