97MarkJA
Dedicated LVC Member
About a year ago I went through some issues when the alternator went bad on my 97, I went through 3 bad parts store reman alts in a row that were bad and finally went to a ford unit from tousley while I waited for my 220 amp unit to arrive.
In the process I discovered that the ground cable to the block was getting hot, the "big 3" were factory. I took the factory ground off and replaced it with a true 4ga cable, problem solved. Kinda.. I did cut open the factory cable to see what they used and it was green about 18" up the cable. I wouldn't call it 4ga maybe more like 6.
I still noticed a voltage drop the longer the car ran even with the system off and minimal accessories running; quicker if you had everything on. I blamed it on a newish battery which did turn out to have a bad cell, replaced it with a large optima; problem solved? Better but not solved.
I've been preping the car for paint and it was raining a bit the other night and got to looking at the rest of the set up, now.. I've done car electronics for over 20 years and wrote a lot of the content they used in the original mecp test for installers, I'm not saying I know everything or am the best but I am confident I wouldn't do things like this.
No way, no how.
The wire that runs from the factory alt and I forget the rating.. 120/130 amp is at best 6ga which goes to a 12ga fusible link and has at best 2 12ga fusible link wires coming out of it; with a loop to the alt sense wire. This thing is on the stud of the under hood fuse box which has the wire to the battery (even smaller) boarder line 8ga.
I won't hardly run 8ga for a big amp, certainly nothing I'm going to put a 60 amp fuse in (which is the largest in our box) not to mention the rest of them.
I know the amp rating says it ok but when it comes to power I lean to the overkill side of things.
In the pictures you will see the fusible links and where they got hot at one point, the factory alt wire, the factory power wire for the fuse box. From right to left on the battery terminal you'll see the factory power wire to the fuse panel, the 4ga I put in to the alt, and the factory starter wire. You can see the size difference and you will see what 1/0 looks like in comparison.
Don't mind all the dust from sanding..
I'll be redoing everything back to the factory routing with upgraded wire, I had purchased everything to move the batteries (x2) to the trunk. I'm tempted to just rewire it and leave it in the front after seeing what they used, with the new wire it may be much better.
Does anyone know what amp rating the fusible link was from the factory?
60 is the largest fuse in the box under the hood but I can't see it being less than what the alt was rated for. Could be wrong though.
In the process I discovered that the ground cable to the block was getting hot, the "big 3" were factory. I took the factory ground off and replaced it with a true 4ga cable, problem solved. Kinda.. I did cut open the factory cable to see what they used and it was green about 18" up the cable. I wouldn't call it 4ga maybe more like 6.
I still noticed a voltage drop the longer the car ran even with the system off and minimal accessories running; quicker if you had everything on. I blamed it on a newish battery which did turn out to have a bad cell, replaced it with a large optima; problem solved? Better but not solved.
I've been preping the car for paint and it was raining a bit the other night and got to looking at the rest of the set up, now.. I've done car electronics for over 20 years and wrote a lot of the content they used in the original mecp test for installers, I'm not saying I know everything or am the best but I am confident I wouldn't do things like this.
No way, no how.
The wire that runs from the factory alt and I forget the rating.. 120/130 amp is at best 6ga which goes to a 12ga fusible link and has at best 2 12ga fusible link wires coming out of it; with a loop to the alt sense wire. This thing is on the stud of the under hood fuse box which has the wire to the battery (even smaller) boarder line 8ga.
I won't hardly run 8ga for a big amp, certainly nothing I'm going to put a 60 amp fuse in (which is the largest in our box) not to mention the rest of them.
I know the amp rating says it ok but when it comes to power I lean to the overkill side of things.
In the pictures you will see the fusible links and where they got hot at one point, the factory alt wire, the factory power wire for the fuse box. From right to left on the battery terminal you'll see the factory power wire to the fuse panel, the 4ga I put in to the alt, and the factory starter wire. You can see the size difference and you will see what 1/0 looks like in comparison.
Don't mind all the dust from sanding..
I'll be redoing everything back to the factory routing with upgraded wire, I had purchased everything to move the batteries (x2) to the trunk. I'm tempted to just rewire it and leave it in the front after seeing what they used, with the new wire it may be much better.
Does anyone know what amp rating the fusible link was from the factory?
60 is the largest fuse in the box under the hood but I can't see it being less than what the alt was rated for. Could be wrong though.
