Alternator / Voltage Regulator

[DAVID GAGNARD]

Originally Posted by Large Arbor

Thanks for the refresher Patrick. I knew the function (i.e. to measure current) but I did not know where it was measuring flow from. It seems to me the Voltmeter, while not period correct willl provide greater indication of whats going on with the alternator and voltage regulator. I know the things that draw load but its not much. My alternator is acually an 85 amp version so I would guess its putting out 60 most of the time (Cobra Valley version).. Eventually, I will push the amperage up on the alternator but for now the 85 A variety will be fine.

Phil

Phil: not familiar with the type of alternator you have,but if it the old style Ford alternator, you can convert it for about 40 bucks and 3 minutes of work to a one wire alternator,eliminating the external voltage regulator....

I did this on my 65 fastback street car back around 1996 and all has been well ever since.....ran the same alternator set-up on my race car for 8 seasons with no problems.....

BTW: I'm using a 60 amp old style Ford alternator in the fastback.....it has an MSD ignition and one humungus OEM Caddilac electric fan and I have not had any problems with amps/volts or enough electrical power to run everything...check my photo gallery,I think there is a photo or two of the alternator with the one wire mod on it...

David

[DAVID GAGNARD]

found it,hope it attaches here..........

well, it looks like it will not attach,but there is a photo in my gallery of it......

[patrickt]

When I'm cruising down the interstate my total alternator output is right around three or four amps. That's it.

[RICK LAKE]

Large Arbor Phil before running off crazy, did we check a couple of things,
#1 Main wire coming off the Alt that charging the battery, does it OHM out? Is there a fusible link in the wire? With an 85 amp setup you should have a link. Slo blow of 100 to 125 amps in the power feed to battery.
#2 Volt meter gauge, SW sells one for cobras that matchs the others. You can get one with color also if you want.
#3 Under size pulleys on the motor of Alt? This will cause a charging issue with the car and not recharging the battery. Have you gone to a PEP boys or Autozone and have the Battery tested for Load? What is the CCA on it? how many year is the life? March pulleys cause this problem all the time.
#4 PA performance sell a complete kit for Cobras that bolts on and has a 95A to 120 amp rating. Buy the fusible link for the system. I run the 125 amp.
#5 IMO you are running to much ampage through the Amp gauge. It was never designed to handle this much. I can promise you that the plastic insolators are either melting or cracking from the load(amps) I went through this and almost melted my wiring harness under the dash and had a great weiner roast. Unhook the 2 feeds from the amp gauge and make a small jump line with 10 gauge wire and crimping clips. Cover the connectors with wrap. Need to loosen the steering column and the screws on the dash to get easy access.
#6 Ground wires on the car? You should have 3 wires. 1 to the frame directly and 2 to the motor, One directly from battery and one from frame to motor block
#7 Volt meters and Amp meters. The Orginial cobras ran like a 37A to 42 A alt. Not sure if they even had a generator on them at one time. Volt meters do give you a prewarning over an amp gauge. Amp gauge is in trouble and the wiring harness is starting to cook. We run from 65A to over 100 amps. We need the power for all the electrical things on the cars.
The VR should match the charging system. If you burn out another VR, If the system is charging at 50-60 amps all the time, you could have a failure of an electrical component like fan motors. You might want to check out #4 line for a better fix. The kits looks orginal with just a wire change. You can paint the VR box black if needed. Good luck with the car. Rick L.

[davids2toys]

Originally Posted by RICK LAKE

Large Arbor Phil before running off crazy, did we check a couple of things,
#1 Main wire coming off the Alt that charging the battery, does it OHM out? Is there a fusible link in the wire? With an 85 amp setup you should have a link. Slo blow of 100 to 125 amps in the power feed to battery.
#2 Volt meter gauge, SW sells one for cobras that matchs the others. You can get one with color also if you want.
#3 Under size pulleys on the motor of Alt? This will cause a charging issue with the car and not recharging the battery. Have you gone to a PEP boys or Autozone and have the Battery tested for Load? What is the CCA on it? how many year is the life? March pulleys cause this problem all the time.
#4 PA performance sell a complete kit for Cobras that bolts on and has a 95A to 120 amp rating. Buy the fusible link for the system. I run the 125 amp.
#5 IMO you are running to much ampage through the Amp gauge. It was never designed to handle this much. I can promise you that the plastic insolators are either melting or cracking from the load(amps) I went through this and almost melted my wiring harness under the dash and had a great weiner roast. Unhook the 2 feeds from the amp gauge and make a small jump line with 10 gauge wire and crimping clips. Cover the connectors with wrap. Need to loosen the steering column and the screws on the dash to get easy access.
#6 Ground wires on the car? You should have 3 wires. 1 to the frame directly and 2 to the motor, One directly from battery and one from frame to motor block
#7 Volt meters and Amp meters. The Orginial cobras ran like a 37A to 42 A alt. Not sure if they even had a generator on them at one time. Volt meters do give you a prewarning over an amp gauge. Amp gauge is in trouble and the wiring harness is starting to cook. We run from 65A to over 100 amps. We need the power for all the electrical things on the cars.
The VR should match the charging system. If you burn out another VR, If the system is charging at 50-60 amps all the time, you could have a failure of an electrical component like fan motors. You might want to check out #4 line for a better fix. The kits looks orginal with just a wire change. You can paint the VR box black if needed. Good luck with the car. Rick L.

Rick, I am confused on what you are saying in #6. Could you possibly break it down so it is less confusing? On my car, from the NEG term on battery, cable goes to frame. From the Pass side aluminum head I have a wire that goes to the metal tube behind the firewall. Also, if I remember correctly, I think I have a braided strap also going from the tranny to the frame.
I was thinking of grounding the drivers side head.

In addition, I plan to run the MSD box POS and NEG wire directly to the battery per the MSD tech department. They do not like those wires running to the frame or to the positive relay on the firewall which is my present setup. What do you or Patrick think of that?
Dave

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by davids2toys

In addition, I plan to run the MSD box POS and NEG wire directly to the battery per the MSD tech department. They do not like those wires running to the frame or to the positive relay on the firewall which is my present setup. What do you or Patrick think of that?
Dave

The MSD hot lead should run directly to the master circuit breaker next to the starter solenoid. The MSD negative lead should run to wherever your negative battery cable terminates. For example, on my car that is the passenger side cylinder head just across from the firewall. Regarding your grounding, ERA has a single black wire that is running from the passenger side cylinder head, where the negative battery cable is often attached, to the firewall. Many of us supplement the standard ERA grounding because the fans, headlights, and taillights all take their ground from the frame. That means all electrons must either go through that one little black wire, or find their way back home via some other way, such as motor mounts, emergency brake cables, etc. What I have on my car is a supplementary 4 gauge wire that runs from the negative battery post to the chassis frame, and I run a grounding strap from the intake manifold to the firewall. I've taken umpteen amp readings on all of my electric circuits and that system works quite well. Many cars do it exactly that way, so it's not like I invented it.

[davids2toys]

Originally Posted by patrickt

The MSD hot lead should run directly to the master circuit breaker next to the starter solenoid. The MSD negative lead should run to wherever your negative battery cable terminates. For example, on my car that is the passenger side cylinder head just across from the firewall. Regarding your grounding, ERA has a single black wire that is running from the passenger side cylinder head, where the negative battery cable is often attached, to the firewall. Many of us supplement the standard ERA grounding because the fans, headlights, and taillights all take their ground from the frame. That means all electrons must either go through that one little black wire, or find their way back home via some other way, such as motor mounts, emergency brake cables, etc. What I have on my car is a supplementary 4 gauge wire that runs from the negative battery post to the chassis frame, and I run a grounding strap from the intake manifold to the firewall. I've taken umpteen amp readings on all of my electric circuits and that system works quite well. Many cars do it exactly that way, so it's not like I invented it.

Well my car is half right then. My POS MSD wire goes to the CB on the firewall like yours. My battery is in the trunk so my negative BAT cable goes to the frame in the back, so perhaps I should run my MSD neg wire all the way to the back to where the NEG BAT cable is connected to the frame, or directly to the battery. I guess I could also get a long NEG battery cable and run it to the front and connect it to where yours is connected.
As I said, MSD instructions and their tech dept want you to hook both wires directly to the BAT. I told them my set up and they said that was NG.
Last I talked with them was last year...I think I will call them again.

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by davids2toys

My battery is in the trunk so my negative BAT cable goes to the frame in the back, so perhaps I should run my MSD neg wire all the way to the back to where the NEG BAT cable is connected to the frame, or directly to the battery.

Yes, that's exactly what I would do. And I would use a fat wire (single digit gauge) since the run is maybe a dozen feet or more.