Alternator swap
03-17-02, 08:51 PM
#1
Alternator swap
Before I ask my question I just want to say that I am aware that my question was recently answered in another post but I can't find it so I'll ask it again. I just got an 80 amp alternator from an FC and I want to put it in my 83. Is this gonna be easy or what? I know the plug is different so I'll have to switch that. The main thing I'm concerned with is whether the belt will work with the pully on the 80 amp one. Any info/pics would be greatly appreceated. Thanks 
03-17-02, 08:56 PM
#2
I dont know any difference in it... Looks the same to me... Saying you got to have a different plug is indicative of it being an 89-91 
By the way I had an 88 alt on my 80 FOREVER, never had a problem
By the way I had an 88 alt on my 80 FOREVER, never had a problem
Last edited by MIKE-P-28; 03-17-02 at 08:58 PM.
03-17-02, 09:07 PM
#3
yea your correct it's off of an 89-91, the plug is the one where the two prongs are parallel to each other, my 83 has the two prongs perpendicular to each other. So Mike, you think that other that switching the plug It should just bolt in? Also, are there any dangers in putting 80amps through wires made to carry only 55 amps that the stock alternator put out? Should I put a fuse or something like that in? Thanks
03-17-02, 09:25 PM
#5
On my 80, I just replaced the wire going from the alt to the battery + with phoneix gold AWG6.... This cosmo alt is a 90A and the 2 leads on it are plainly figureable. Theres a white / blue which is quite thinker than the other one, I know its 12V ign, the other white/blk is thinner and I know it goes to the choke/check relay. What its purpose is to put the lights out on the dash when the alt starts turning (running) Follow Mar's diagram and SOLDER the wires, and you wont have a problem
By the way it has 2 wires tiued together going out of the (+) on the alt, they appear to be 2 10 AWG's
As far as it bolting up I think there was something different like I needed a few washers at the bottom, but thats pretty elementary. You'll see when you get there...
Oh and to comment further, I ran the wire from my ALT straight to the battery (+) and then a piece of 8 awg to the factory 3 fuse link block next to the battery. Those fuses will take care of the car... If you run any other wires from the battery to an amp, electrical fan or etc. BE SURE to fuse them with 6-12 inches of the battery to prevent a fire ...
By the way it has 2 wires tiued together going out of the (+) on the alt, they appear to be 2 10 AWG's
As far as it bolting up I think there was something different like I needed a few washers at the bottom, but thats pretty elementary.
You'll see when you get there...Oh and to comment further, I ran the wire from my ALT straight to the battery (+) and then a piece of 8 awg to the factory 3 fuse link block next to the battery. Those fuses will take care of the car... If you run any other wires from the battery to an amp, electrical fan or etc. BE SURE to fuse them with 6-12 inches of the battery to prevent a fire ...
Last edited by MIKE-P-28; 03-17-02 at 09:36 PM.
03-19-02, 07:14 PM
#6
Got any pics of the wiring on your car? oh yea whoever doesn't solder is an idiot, I solder everything! Every single connection on my sound system is soldered. Is the fuse block that little rectangle thing on the wheel well? You said that you put the wire direct from the alt to the bat, where does it go stock? I think I'll use 4 ga. Overkill? you bet, but I got a ton left from my amp, Ordered way too much and got a good 6 ft left over, might as well use it somewhere. thanks
thanks
03-20-02, 06:49 PM
#7
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The brown rectangular box is for the fusible links. One's for main, one's for the headlamps and the other...err, I forgot. Going from the top arrow clockwise ... (1) the actual plug that you should have recovered with the alternator when you saved it from the junkyard scrap heap...(2) a tiny view of the blue stripe on the yellow wire that will be loosely tied 
to the black wire with the white stripe in your car...(3) the actual wires from the '80 loom...(4) and for pele, the 8 ga cable going directly to the red top Optima that will never give me any trouble!! The picture has flattened out a bit...the red wire is, in fact, not even close to the vacuum advance canisters...ignore the yellow/green wires, they're for energizing a second alternator for the stereo system that I plan on stuffing in the rex this spring. It'll keep the yellow top Optima (already in the back stow area behind the passenger seat) juiced and happy...
Hope that helps! Still haven't got around to hittin' the boneyard for spare alts and now it's too mushy to explore after the downpour...
to the black wire with the white stripe in your car...(3) the actual wires from the '80 loom...(4) and for pele, the 8 ga cable going directly to the red top Optima that will never give me any trouble!! The picture has flattened out a bit...the red wire is, in fact, not even close to the vacuum advance canisters...ignore the yellow/green wires, they're for energizing a second alternator for the stereo system that I plan on stuffing in the rex this spring. It'll keep the yellow top Optima (already in the back stow area behind the passenger seat) juiced and happy...Hope that helps! Still haven't got around to hittin' the boneyard for spare alts and now it's too mushy to explore after the downpour...
Last edited by mar3; 03-20-02 at 06:54 PM.
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03-21-02, 09:13 AM
#11
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The stock one doesn't go directly to the battery. It winds through the loom and provides +12v for some other systems on the way, so I kept it. It's the black wire with the yellow crimp terminal (sharing the alternator "out" post with the red wire) that was installed by the previous owner. You can tell by the discoloration that soldering is definitely the way to go when dealing with charging systems!
03-21-02, 04:54 PM
#12
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Originally posted by mar3
The brown rectangular box is for the fusible links. One's for main, one's for the headlamps and the other...err, I forgot. Going from the top arrow clockwise ... (1) the actual plug that you should have recovered with the alternator when you saved it from the junkyard scrap heap...(2) a tiny view of the blue stripe on the yellow wire that will be loosely tied to the black wire with the white stripe in your car...(3) the actual wires from the '80 loom...(4) and for pele, the 8 ga cable going directly to the red top Optima that will never give me any trouble!! The picture has flattened out a bit...the red wire is, in fact, not even close to the vacuum advance canisters...ignore the yellow/green wires, they're for energizing a second alternator for the stereo system that I plan on stuffing in the rex this spring. It'll keep the yellow top Optima (already in the back stow area behind the passenger seat) juiced and happy...
Hope that helps! Still haven't got around to hittin' the boneyard for spare alts and now it's too mushy to explore after the downpour...
The brown rectangular box is for the fusible links. One's for main, one's for the headlamps and the other...err, I forgot. Going from the top arrow clockwise ... (1) the actual plug that you should have recovered with the alternator when you saved it from the junkyard scrap heap...(2) a tiny view of the blue stripe on the yellow wire that will be loosely tied
to the black wire with the white stripe in your car...(3) the actual wires from the '80 loom...(4) and for pele, the 8 ga cable going directly to the red top Optima that will never give me any trouble!! The picture has flattened out a bit...the red wire is, in fact, not even close to the vacuum advance canisters...ignore the yellow/green wires, they're for energizing a second alternator for the stereo system that I plan on stuffing in the rex this spring. It'll keep the yellow top Optima (already in the back stow area behind the passenger seat) juiced and happy...Hope that helps! Still haven't got around to hittin' the boneyard for spare alts and now it's too mushy to explore after the downpour...
You of all people. Mar3, the man who was trying to convince everyone to use quality fuel system components. Quite frankly I'm shocked.
03-21-02, 08:09 PM
#15
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Originally posted by REVHED
Please don't tell me you're running a Purolator fuel pressure regulator! You of all people. Mar3, the man who was trying to convince everyone to use quality fuel system components. Quite frankly I'm shocked.
Please don't tell me you're running a Purolator fuel pressure regulator!
You of all people. Mar3, the man who was trying to convince everyone to use quality fuel system components. Quite frankly I'm shocked.
82transam---here's the fusible link box shot. The green arrow points to the 10 ga wire which comes directly from the battery to that box. It's soldered and a nice 24K gold-plated Phoenix Gold ring terminal was used solely for conductive efficiencies! How's that for quality over-kill....Sorry for the pathetic shot this time. The kodak was focusing on a point different than what I was seeing through the viewfinder. Why can't they make these things focus like SLR cameras??
Anything else? I'll try the boneyard Wednesday and see if the 2ndgens there have got the good stuff....
Last edited by mar3; 03-21-02 at 08:15 PM.
09-26-02, 07:50 AM
#17
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Just for review, the 86-88 Alternators are exactly the same as the 89-91 alternators, except for the connector?
I surely thought the Turbo or Vert ones were a bit higher... Or the later ones were a bit higher.. Or something... The numbers 70, 75, and 80 are floating around in my head... 10 Amps makes a good bit of difference.
And didn't someone have an FD alternator in their car? Aren't those 90 amps?
More amps = better.
I surely thought the Turbo or Vert ones were a bit higher... Or the later ones were a bit higher.. Or something... The numbers 70, 75, and 80 are floating around in my head... 10 Amps makes a good bit of difference.
And didn't someone have an FD alternator in their car? Aren't those 90 amps?
More amps = better.
09-26-02, 12:30 PM
#18
As far as I know the 86-88 alts are like 70 amps, where the 89-91 is 80 amps. I finally got around to swapping my 89 alt in. It was a breeze. It fits right in and looks stock. I still have the fuseable links in and it works fine. FD's use a serpentine belt system so I don't know how easy that would be to install, and yes they are 90 amps.
09-26-02, 11:05 PM
#19
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Originally posted by 82transam
As far as I know the 86-88 alts are like 70 amps, where the 89-91 is 80 amps. I finally got around to swapping my 89 alt in. It was a breeze. It fits right in and looks stock. I still have the fuseable links in and it works fine. FD's use a serpentine belt system so I don't know how easy that would be to install, and yes they are 90 amps.
As far as I know the 86-88 alts are like 70 amps, where the 89-91 is 80 amps. I finally got around to swapping my 89 alt in. It was a breeze. It fits right in and looks stock. I still have the fuseable links in and it works fine. FD's use a serpentine belt system so I don't know how easy that would be to install, and yes they are 90 amps.
11-15-02, 09:44 PM
#21
sold the FD...kept the FB
Today I installed a 80amp alternator from a 91' on my 83'. Everything went very well thanks to this thread. I had a couple small things to add to make the thread even more helpfull for others.
-the dual belt pully that I bought from mazdatrix and had on my stock 83' alternator worked perfectly on the 91' alternator. The only thing was, I was unable to reuse the large lock-washer due to lack of threads on the shaft. I simply used no washer.
-The wiring diagram helped a lot... just to clarify, the diagram should be read as if you were looking directly at the back side of each alternator.
-the space needed to fill with washers where the new alternator mounts on the waterpump housing is exactly 10mm. I was lucky to have a 10mm spacer that worked perfectly that I found in a scrap bolt jar.
-I had to grind down the belt tension braket a bit becouse it was hitting the new alternator, but it was no biggie.
-the dual belt pully that I bought from mazdatrix and had on my stock 83' alternator worked perfectly on the 91' alternator. The only thing was, I was unable to reuse the large lock-washer due to lack of threads on the shaft. I simply used no washer.
-The wiring diagram helped a lot... just to clarify, the diagram should be read as if you were looking directly at the back side of each alternator.
-the space needed to fill with washers where the new alternator mounts on the waterpump housing is exactly 10mm. I was lucky to have a 10mm spacer that worked perfectly that I found in a scrap bolt jar.
-I had to grind down the belt tension braket a bit becouse it was hitting the new alternator, but it was no biggie.
11-15-02, 10:29 PM
#22
Cool, glad this thread was of help. When i put mine on I just used 4 fat washers to take up the space. How much did you have to grind off the tension bracket? I didn't have to remove any. odd. anyway, glad to see another person has done this swap.
11-15-02, 11:53 PM
#23
sold the FD...kept the FB
Originally posted by 82transam
Cool, glad this thread was of help. When i put mine on I just used 4 fat washers to take up the space. How much did you have to grind off the tension bracket? I didn't have to remove any. odd. anyway, glad to see another person has done this swap.
Cool, glad this thread was of help. When i put mine on I just used 4 fat washers to take up the space. How much did you have to grind off the tension bracket? I didn't have to remove any. odd. anyway, glad to see another person has done this swap.
Yeah it helped a lot. Thanks everyone.
I think the reason why I had to grind the bracket down a bit is due to the fact that I am running short belts that make me adjust the alternator near it's lowest limit. Heres a pic, notice the grind marks on the bracket:
