Weird thing happened last week

[89merk]

So after i get my car back from the shop after they change my fuel pump/sender...im driving that night and notice that everytime i hit my brakes my dash lighting and headlights start dimming...i got even worse when i put my turn signal...i then decide to honk the boat horn and the car just shuts off, completely dies...no electrical signal at all.

i pop the hood and it turns out the assholes left my battery terminals loose,
i tightened everything up, car started perfectly and hasn't done anything stupid like that since.

now, if the battery is disconnected shouldn't the alternator keep everything running?
do i have a shitty alternator or did i overload it by having everything on, radio, headlights, horn..etc?
or was there possible contact with my terminals and the hood?

[marquisman]

with the bat terminal disconnected the alt works harder to try and charge the battery and feed the vehicle. since the power wires for engine and other accessories all branch off the main battery cables, they wont get propper voltage to components through the vehicle and any multiple componets in use makes matters worse. this is why you should allways keep you battery and terminals serviced.

[89merk]

so this can cause the car to totally shut off when not connected properly?

[crown vic muscle]

if things arent getting the right amount of juice then they shut down. if your spark is weak because of a bad connection, then the car wont run

[gadget73]

The alternator doesn't make enough power at idle to run the whole car. It should never be asked to run a car without a battery anyway, its very bad for the electrical system and for the alternator. I would go over the alternator connections and wiring, especially between the alternator and driver's fender to be sure nothing melted down. If it did, go back and bitch.

[Brandon]

The car will run if the battery is dead or going dead. Your alternator light didn't come on? I know mine did when I first bought it, but that was because the Dumbass had a little Lawn mower batter in it. It was that small.

[89merk]

battery light never came on, i just tightened the terminals and went on my way.

and i will check the wires as u said gadget, thanks again people

[gadget73]

Even with a near dead battery, it will work. Its when no battery at all is in the system you have problems. The battery, even a crap one, will act as a filter to stabilize the voltage in the system. In theory a bigass capacitor will do the job just as well, but you'd need a lot of capacity.

[86VickyLX]

So after i get my car back from the shop after they change my fuel pump/sender...im driving that night and notice that everytime i hit my brakes my dash lighting and headlights start dimming...i got even worse when i put my turn signal...i then decide to honk the boat horn and the car just shuts off, completely dies...no electrical signal at all.

i pop the hood and it turns out the assholes left my battery terminals loose,
i tightened everything up, car started perfectly and hasn't done anything stupid like that since.

now, if the battery is disconnected shouldn't the alternator keep everything running?
do i have a shitty alternator or did i overload it by having everything on, radio, headlights, horn..etc?
or was there possible contact with my terminals and the hood?

No, I think the poor thing kept up with all your power demands as much as it could. You're lucky the thing catch fire. Do you still have the 2G alternator? If you are I'd definetely recommend you go to a 3G.

[89merk]

can i tell what type it is by just looking at it?

[91waggin]

can i tell what type it is by just looking at it?

2g alternator has 2 black charge wires on a plastic plug, 3g has a charge stud.

2g is stock. If you haven't upgraded the alt, it's 2g.

[89merk]

can some1 post pics of their 3g?
and do i have to change anything else when installing the 3g?

[86VickyLX]

You will need the 3G alternator from a 3.0 (small case 3G) Ford project from the '90s. Such as the Ford Taurus. Do not use a 3G alternator from a 3.8 product (large case 3G). You can also get it from a 5.0 Mustang from around 1995.

You need to change your existing voltage regulator wiring harness, or use the plug and wiring off of the donor car. If you're using the donor plug, then green one is attached to your green wire on your original regulator harness. The white and black wire goes into a single plug on the alternator (stator plug) it should have a nice little plug for it too, which is why it's nice use the plug from the donor car. The orange wire goes on the charge stud via a loop butt connector. The big charge wire will be attached to that charge stud, and it will also run into either the donor car's 175 amp fuse, or you can buy a circuit breaker. You can either use the charge wire from the donor vehicle, or you can buy a new charge wire as well. Lastly you can attach the new cable from the fuse and attach it to the battery terminal, or the starter solenoid.

Pics for you! Sorry for the shitty quality.








Forgot to mention, I needed to run a new bolt for the top and a nut. since the hole was way too big for my original bolt.

I also had to drill the bottom bolt hole, it was too small. The one I grabbed was a remanufactured one from teh junkyard so maybe that's why the hole was too small. You might not have to do that though mang.

[89merk]

hmmm, seems simple enough thanks 4 all the info mang, you're a G

[91waggin]

Here's my install thread with some clearer pictures. (Not trying to knock you 86vlx!)

http://www.grandmarq.net/vb/showthread.php?t=23501&highlight=3g