Hight Idle And Wired Dimming

[V8GrandMarquis]

Hey guys well my 89' is stored for the winter but cant touch it since its 2 hours away but i've been having this problem ever since I got the car. Firstly its the high idle when I put it from Park or Neutral into Drive the car goes into drive and engine RPM drops. Now when I put it back in P or N it goes up quite a bit then it was when it was in Drive. Secondly when I'm driving all lights on and at full brightness and lets just say its raining. So it's night its raining and the wipers are on 2nd speed if i put my rear defrost the light dim a bit if I turn on the non existing heat the light dim quite a bit and the wipers move at a slower pace also my when I signal they slow down quite a bit and engine RPM drops a little. Once I turn it all off every thing is bright again even headlights. I've had this problem since I got the car 2 years ago and replaced the alternator about 1 year ago? Thanks for your input guys. (Also I forgot to mention that my resistor is bad the air only works on high not sure if this is a factor)

[gadget73]

your alternator is probably weak. The stock design is crap, and has a habit of melting down the wiring near the alternator. I'd also be cleaning all of the connections at the starter relay, and cleaning the grounds from the battery to engine, and engine to body but I really suspect the alternator is just a turd.

Idle issue is quite possibly a vacuum leak.

[V8GrandMarquis]

your alternator is probably weak. The stock design is crap, and has a habit of melting down the wiring near the alternator. I'd also be cleaning all of the connections at the starter relay, and cleaning the grounds from the battery to engine, and engine to body but I really suspect the alternator is just a turd.

Idle issue is quite possibly a vacuum leak.

Hmmmm K so I guess that answers my question about why everyone is talking about the 3G swap. Where would I go about starting to look for that vacuum leak? Thanks

[86VickyLX]

Hmmmm K so I guess that answers my question about why everyone is talking about the 3G swap. Where would I go about starting to look for that vacuum leak? Thanks

Replace the rubber hoses that are connected to the upper intake manifold. If they are original, it's possible that they have cracked to the point of the hoses sucking in outside air. Replace your alternator first, then go after the vacuum leaks.

[V8GrandMarquis]

But my alternator is just under a year old? And battery is the same aswell? Is it possible my Alt is malfunctioning even that young.

[Lincolnmania]

yes, especially if you have stereo amps and subs.......from 1999-2003 i went thru 4 reman 2g alternators

[V8GrandMarquis]

WoW what a shitty design. What is I don't want to go though the hassle of putting in a G3 alt. is there another solution?

[sly]

yeah... I'm surprised my 2g hasn't given me grief in my 88. I know for a fact that I over-draw the electrical system on that car with my subs (lights dimming slightly and all that jazz)

[gadget73]

retrofitting the alternator to a 3g is not that hard. The root problem with the 2g is that handy-dandy connector it uses. The connection gets flaky, and it gets hot and melts down. That, and its only 65 amps with poor idle speed output. There is apparently some higher amperage version of the 2g, but it suffers from the same poor connector design, and will be even more likely to melt the connectors. New alternators are usually sold with a new connector, which must be installed otherwise you're very likely to burn out the replacement.

[86VickyLX]

WoW what a shitty design. What is I don't want to go though the hassle of putting in a G3 alt. is there another solution?

Hassle? Tis easy. You can use half of the wiring that's already on the car.

[V8GrandMarquis]

Hassle? Tis easy. You can use half of the wiring that's already on the car.

I was reading a post on how to do it and I need like new wiring and all that jazz

[86VickyLX]

I was reading a post on how to do it and I need like new wiring and all that jazz

All that Jazz really isn't so hard to do. And it would be cheaper to do this with a junkyard car. But you can buy all the stuff new. Now you take the small plug from your existing alternator and use it for the new alternator. you cut the white/black wire at the big rectangular plug. That wire will be attached to the alternator itself. There is a little connector that attaches that wire from the small plug (that you'll be reusing) to the new alternator. You'll need a charge wire. You can get that from the junkyard car or buy it new.

Some of the cars that I've worked with have used fusible links (wires that break the connection when there is an overload [if you didn't know]) While others use a large fuse. My set up is currently using the large fuse as my circuit protection. But I've installed 3g alternators with the fusible link set up as well.

I've hooked my charge wire like so...

From the alternator, to the fuse (which I mounted on the passengers side fender well), to a second short cable to the positive battery terminal.

With the fusible link kind I ran it straight to the positive battery terminal.

You'll need a different alternator belt. I forget the exact one it is.

You'll also need a through bolt for the top of the alternator, since the bolt in your old one won't work. With that bolt you'll need a nut so you can tighten it.

You may need to drill the lower hole in the alternator bigger, to fit the lower bolt in.

That's all you'd need to do.

You can find the alternators on these cars.

1995 + Ford Taurus/Mercury Sable 3.0 V6
1994/1995 Ford Mustang 5.0 V8
There are others, but these are the ones I'm sure of.

[V8GrandMarquis]

All that Jazz really isn't so hard to do. And it would be cheaper to do this with a junkyard car. But you can buy all the stuff new. Now you take the small plug from your existing alternator and use it for the new alternator. you cut the white/black wire at the big rectangular plug. That wire will be attached to the alternator itself. There is a little connector that attaches that wire from the small plug (that you'll be reusing) to the new alternator. You'll need a charge wire. You can get that from the junkyard car or buy it new.

Some of the cars that I've worked with have used fusible links (wires that break the connection when there is an overload [if you didn't know]) While others use a large fuse. My set up is currently using the large fuse as my circuit protection. But I've installed 3g alternators with the fusible link set up as well.

I've hooked my charge wire like so...

From the alternator, to the fuse (which I mounted on the passengers side fender well), to a second short cable to the positive battery terminal.

With the fusible link kind I ran it straight to the positive battery terminal.

You'll need a different alternator belt. I forget the exact one it is.

You'll also need a through bolt for the top of the alternator, since the bolt in your old one won't work. With that bolt you'll need a nut so you can tighten it.

You may need to drill the lower hole in the alternator bigger, to fit the lower bolt in.

That's all you'd need to do.

You can find the alternators on these cars.

1995 + Ford Taurus/Mercury Sable 3.0 V6
1994/1995 Ford Mustang 5.0 V8
There are others, but these are the ones I'm sure of.

WoW great thanks doesn't seem to bad im going to check out the parts new.

[86VickyLX]

WoW great thanks doesn't seem to bad im going to check out the parts new.

http://fordfuelinjection.com/?p=75

you can get the stuff you want from here, premade. If that would be easier for you mang. I did all the stuff by myself, but this looks a lot cleaner, and more professional looking.

Click on the charge cable products linky

[1990LTD]

good luck with the upgrade...I love the 3G in my car now.