{Electrical} 3G swap

[Archangel]

Speaking of alternators - does anyone know if a 3.0/3.8 Taurus/Sable/Mustang 3G alternator will work for my '88 TC? Dimensionwise it seems it'll fit, but what amperage it is rated at? Motorcraft part No. F4ZU-10316-AA if that helps. Thanks!

[Blaze86Vic]

Many people here have it, and are impressed. It runs 130amps. there is some re-wireing to be done but not much from what I hear. I haven't done it yet, or had a need to.

[gadget73]

I thought the Taurus alt was a large body, but if it'll fit, its a piece of cake to wire in. I have one from a 95 Mustang on my car, 130 amps of goodness.

[Archangel]

Now that's what I wanted to hear - 130ams!!! Actually I just measured it this evening, it'll bolt right in place of my current alternator, which I believe is a 2G unit (has a plastic impeller, not a metal one). Wiring it will be fun though, as I'm not really good with electric stuff, so if I get stuck along the way please don't laugh

[gadget73]

Its actually easier than you might think. Small plug gets no mods, the fat plug gets cut off and replaced with 3 ring terminals and a spade connector. Ring terminals on the fat wires, and they go to th output stud on the back of the alternator. The thin wire gets a spade connector (or better yet, the proper plug stolen from a junkyard car) and plugs into the remaining connector on the alternator. I would also suggest a nice length of heavy guage wire to go from the output terminal on the alt to the starter relay with a 100 amp or so fuse inline. The stock wiring is only fused and rated for a 65 amp alternator so the extra wire and fuse are a good idea. Poke around the junkyard, I've found good size hunks of 8 or so guage stereo wiring laying in cars, and its perfect for the job.

Thats it. Oh, the other little trick, you may have to hook the belt onto the alternator before putting the lower bolt in. The pulley is slightly larger on the 3g unit, and the case hits the bracket a little so it won't go quite as far over as a stock unit.

[Archangel]

Gadget, I just picked up some welding cable form work (freebie!), it's red and very very fat (about 0-gauge I guess). Now I only need to find some massive ring connectors, and I'll be good to go. Just in case though, I have to ask - my current grounds for the battery and ignition coil are 6-gauge cables, does the main alternator wire need to be bigger than them, or it doesn't really matter as long as it's more than 8-gauge? Also I've read your reply to Sixlitre in the LoL forum, but I couldn't quite get it then - so both black fat wires go to that stud in the back of the alternator? Then why did Ford use two separate ones, instead of one fat? And what size are they, since I got a wide variety of terminals at work Is soldering the connections (on top of crimping, that is) a good idea?

I remember the trick with the lower bolt, however I'm wondering the following - the 5.0 is generally a low-rpm engine, so I wouldn't be surprised if the alternator is actually spinning slower than when installed in the V6's, so it'll be making less than 130 amps, right? If that is correct, wouldn't a stock TC alternator pulley kinda make up for that?

And last - on the 3G alternator I have the rotor assembly (everything that spins) moves slightly forwards and backwards, is that an indication that the bearings are shot?

So, if all is good, I can probably do the swap tomorrow after work - man, that'd be sweet

[Lincolnmania]

the taurus 3ag is the same as our 95 mustang 3ag's
triplexxx harvested a small frame 3ag for his 86 towncar......the small frame 3ag came from a 90 towncar.........105 amps we think

[gadget73]

They'll all move a little, but if it really slops or doesn't turn smooth the bearings are prolly toast. Take it to Autozone or Advance and get them to put it on thier machine. If it makes funky noise when it spins up, call it dead.

I think the reason for the 2 wires was so they could get away with thinner cables and so the load would be spread across 2 connector terminals instead of 1. At least that makes sense to me. Its pretty hard to make a push-on connector with 6 or 8 guage cable.

0 guage? JFC talk about overkill. I have 4 guage on mine and I'm actually going to replace it with 8 for ease of routing. I'm also changing it from running across the top of the motor to following the original harness around behind the header panel. It wouldn't hurt to upgrade the ground cable. I think the $11 replacement cable they gave me was 4 guage, so a bit better capacity, and its nice and new instead of vintage parts.

[Archangel]

Well, yes, I agree the 0g wire is way overkil - now I decided to go with the 6g since the fat one is way to fat to fit anywhere nicely. Talking about grounds I still have the stock ones (whatever size they are), but the 6g I mentioned in the previous post are actually additional ones I ran last week - one from the battery to the engine block, and another from the ignition coil (on the fender) to the same bolt on the engine block. On top of that I have a 10g ground from the ignition coil to the body of the car - overkill again, I know, but even with that I can still hear the coil discharging (MSD Blaster it is).

The alternator is already tested, and it really made a weird sound - that's why I asked about it. It checked okay for charging though, go figure... I'll return it and pick another one during the weekend, at least now I know what I'm looking for. Or shall I just replace its bearings with some good real ones?

[85crownHPP]

got any installed pics???

[DuceAnAHalf]

my alt is charging through a 6awg wire and the battery cable is about 20' of 0awg.

[Archangel]

Pete, I don't have pics of the alternator as I haven't installed it yet - took it apart today just to find the both brushes in the back are pretty worn out, and the edge of one is also chipped off. Bearings are fine though, so later on this week I'll be visiting the salvage yard for some alternator parts, and hopefully will have the beast installed during the weekend. I'll take pics then, as now there ain't too much to show

DuceAnAHalf, that's what my wiring will most likely end up being too.

BTW, does anyone have the noisy ignition coil problem? I have an MSD Blaster coil, MSD rotor and cap, and Ford Racing 9mm wires, and I've noticed there are several other people here with the same setup - do your coils make the electrical discharge 'rattle' when working? Cause mine is pretty loud, and it didn't seem to depend on where the coil is installed (stock A/C brace or left fender with 6g ground) - is that something I should be worried about?

[Archangel]

The altertnator's in, but my lights still go dim whenever I press the powerlocks switch, or when the power seats reach an end of their travel, or when I'm trying to lift a window that's already closed - thought the 130A alternator should take care of all that, or am I missing something?

The setup - '91 Taurus small-case alternator with a '94 Taurus back plate and brushes, passed two tests (once as a 91 Taurus and once as a 94 Mustang unit). Cable is 6ga running from the stud to the bolt on the right fender, current passes through two 50A fuzible links connected in parallel (100A total), stock harness is still in use. To make the belt fit I had to not only do the lower bolt trick, but also grind off some of the material on the lower bracket so I can push the alternator a little bit further inside. Oh well, that's what the 30,000rpm Dremel is for Pics will be tomorrow or Sunday, whenever I find me a "FORD 5.0 EFI" plate for the intake.

[N A]

the taurus 3ag is the same as our 95 mustang 3ag's
triplexxx harvested a small frame 3ag for his 86 towncar......the small frame 3ag came from a 90 towncar.........105 amps we think

Advance Auto Parts sells a 105 amp alt for the Town Car. Would the stock wiring (65 amp alt) work with a 105 amp alt? I'm not good with wiring.

[gadget73]

I think the 80s 105 amp alt used an external regulator. Not 100% on that, but I've seen pics of a limo that had one, and it was external. Limos have horrible wiring tho so who knows.