How Much is Too Much Alternator?

[packman]

The stock alternators in these cars is around 60 amps, right? I want to get a Derale dual electric fan that requires 50 amps. Is it possible to get an aftermarket alternator for a Mustang to work on a box Panther. I know next to nothing about eletronics, but I figured that I would get a 140 amp Powermaster unit for the fan, the rest of the goodies in the car, and a future audio system (nothing crazy, head unit, and aftermarket speakers). Though if you guys have any better ideas, please tell.


Packman

[gabegt90]

you should try doing a 3g alt upgrade

[packman]

I've seen this posted before, but I figured that it was some sort of custom electrician upgrade. What is this 3g alternator upgrade?


Packman

[CheeseSteakJim]

It's nothing overly complicated. Basically you install the new alternator, splice the new alternator's plugs into your old harness (cutting off the old plugs), and then run a nice fat (I run 1 gauge) battery cable with a big fat 150 or more fuse or circuit breaker.

There's no such thing as too much power. I run an upgraded Mustang alternator that puts out 150 amps, with a 200 amp MEGA-FUSE, and I did the Big 3 battery cable upgrade with 1 gauge cables. The biggest problem I had was running the cable in a clean, efficient way.

[86GmLsCoupe]

The 3g is a very nice and fairly easy upgrade for the car. I did mine with Dad during the winter and have been very happy since. I used a brand new alt for a 95 mustang 5.0 for mine. The wiring changes are pretty minor and it's something you can easily handle.

[torquelover]

3G with 1-wire (actually 2) upgrade is dead reliable and really cleans up the engine bay.

[gadget73]

The 3g is rated at 130 amps, however that might be a little conservative. My rebuilt one came with a tag showing the output at 152 amps max. Its just an off the shelf part for a newer Mustang or several other applications. I'd go with one of those over a custom higher output part just because you can go almost anywhere and get one. If the custom job fries, you're down waiting on a replacement.

[CheeseSteakJim]

The 3g is rated at 130 amps, however that might be a little conservative. My rebuilt one came with a tag showing the output at 152 amps max. Its just an off the shelf part for a newer Mustang or several other applications. I'd go with one of those over a custom higher output part just because you can go almost anywhere and get one. If the custom job fries, you're down waiting on a replacement.

Yep. That's the only down side of having a custom one. However, it's nice to have something like that if you know you're going to be installing a lot of electrical gadgets. It gives you lots of room to work without ever worrying about having not enough alternator. I don't know what mine's rated at max, but I put one of those big alternator testing machines to it and it puts out 145 amps at idle.

[Lincolnmania]

easy upgrade is the 3ag altenator.....gonna be about the cheapest too.......that powermaster altenator is a 2g style isnt it......the wiring cannot handle more than 60 amps so as it is.......you can get a 3ag for a 94-95 mustang wiring is simple if you do it the way i have been doing them

[gadget73]

I hope that doesn't use the stock wiring. It catches fire with the 65 amp alternator. Its only a pair of 10 gauge wires from alt to battery. Pretty long run too across the header panel.

[86GmLsCoupe]

Naa, the stock stuff is abandoned. Scott told me how to run it and mine works perfectly. The only original wiring you need is the green wire. The green gets soldered onto the 3g Plug. The only thing left is the output stud, which goes the the Pos+ stud on the starter solenoid and is Mega-fused or breakered like Scott's in between. The wire the goes from that same Pos+ terminal to the Pos+ on the battery and thats it. I got my 3g harness from RJM Tech http://rjminjectiontech.com/?p=7 (lots of places have them) and it came with instructions that matched what Scott told me.

[packman]

I came back from Englishtown empty handed. None of the major vendors (Summit Racing and Jegs) were there. I also found out that an electric fan upgrade will do little to improve MPG and power. Though I would beg to differ; I would think that even a 1MPG increase would add up over time. So I am still on with this upgrade. I am just going to wait until September when the larger swap meet takes place. It'll give me some time to do the 3g alt upgrade.


Packman

[interceptor1985]

There is stock electric fan "upgrades" that are possible....I think scott knows more about it....SCOTT!!!!

[Lincolnmania]

lots of factory fans that you can use......the hell with that aftermarket stuff.......but if you do want a brand new fan with built in controller, the pro form fan for a fox mustang works well (around 150 bucks) or a 91 up thunderbird cougar or mk8 fan or a taurus fan, or a pr of celebrity fans or anything......the key to making the factory fans work well is make sure you have enough relay for starting amps (learned from my mistakes) an electronic fan controller is ideal if you prefer to have the fan run on both high and low speeds.......to the do the wiring with relays to run hi and lo speed you need gadget.....i had wired up superlincolns fan originly and it did function but only on low.

[gadget73]

you dont really need the two speed thing with relays. Mine is wired on some speed, I cant honestly tell you if its high or low because I can't tell the difference with my fan. Most fans move enough on low to do the job, but if you need more, simply wire it on the high side so its on or off as needed.