LOL JINX! The exact same question at the exact same time.

I know someone who was running a GM powermaster alternator on his T78 powered vert and he obviously never burnt it up or blew chunks of it in his engine bay.

I dunno, I don't think it'll clear. It certainly won't clear mine and mine is high enough to interfere with the hood slightly.

http://forum.teamfc3s.org/attachment...1&d=1199131991

I applaude your efforts but wold be weary of others trying this. I think you got incredibly lucky when you built your bracket as 3/16 I don't consider to be fine enough adjustment to line up a pulley. I suppose some thinner SS washers could work. I'm also not giving up the adjustment method I created :D

I'd go to a parts store and see if they can x-reference a taurus alt with some other fords. You may find that it's on some higher winding engines. Even if it lasts a few months, it's still a nice cheap alternative. Honestly though, it's not like a delicate transmission or something where moving parts could be a problem. It's a few bearing that you need to be worried about. Possibly heat as well.

That's not going to tell you anything definitive. They can use the same alternator on a higher revving engine with a different diameter crank pulley to keep the alternator RPMs within spec.

You still risk an exploding armature due to higher centrifugal force.

Thanks Ted, I am a simple kinda guy.

Yes, that is a concern. In all my research, one of the key factors that came up is that larger diameter alternators generate larger centripetal forces. The generation Taurus that my fan comes from has a HUGE alternator. That's the one that I originally wanted to use. The size worried me about clearances. That combined with the rpm concerns lead me to this particular alternator. It is larger than the S5, but still pretty compact.

Taurus revs? I don't know. I have never driven one. I won't even rent one.

Nope, the pulleys are exactly the same size. It is the perspective of the same size pulley being on different size frame. Kinda like the short skinny guy in porn that looks like he has a large, well you know, a large alternator.

Personally, I think people worry about too many things. No one worried about the larger diameter on the FD because we know FDs are high rpm motors. I bet the rotational. I don't think in this case the difference is that large. The materials, bearings etc. are likely similar if not the same. This alternator is mildly larger in diameter, but is quite a bit deeper as well. Other similar amperage alts from Ford seemed to be optimized the other way, larger diameter and shallower bodies.

I am not completely blowing off the issue either. I have taken the car up to 6000 rpms gently, but I have not driven it hard. I will give it some time before I do.

That's a huge assumption that doesn't stand up to the physics of the situation. What you have just described is under driving the alternator. A pulley ration that will materially affect the alternator speed at high rpms will also turn the alt really slowl at low rpms. Now the alt won't charge well at idle. I don't think this is likely, so the scenario doesn't hold up.

And did you know that on Halloween the witches will come and eat your brains if you don't... oh, never mind.

My volts are just dandy, even under maximum load.

You know that I did actually measure the location and built the bracket so that it shouldn't need the adjustments. It fit just like I designed it. I don't consider that lucky. I also planned for adjustments, in case my execution of said plan was imperfect. I consider that prudent.
That was exactly my plan. If I needed it, I would use some thinner *shims* to fine tune the alignment. It remains to be seen if I need to do this. The pulley has a rough, milled surface in the pulley. I will watch this over the next few miles. If I see that one surface is wearing unevenly, then I can fine tune it. I fully expect to have to do this, but right now, revving the engine up to the 5000-6000 the belt looks to be as straight and stable as the other belts, so I am pretty close.

BTW, the maximum that I could be out of alignment with 3/16' adjustment would be half that amount, or 3/32". That is too much, but I assure you that I am already much closer than that.



Heat being a concern with all alternators, the main source of heat is NOT the heat from the surrounding engine bay, but from the function of the alternator. The closer an alternator operates to it's rated capacity, the less efficient it gets, hence the more heat it makes. I suspect that this alternator by operating far below it's maximum capacity is making less heat than the S5 alt makes.

I measured a 60+ amp output on my S5 alternator with everything running as detailed above. That's 75% of the rated capacity. That same 60 amp load is only 46% of the 130 amp capacity of the Taurus alternator. You have just learned one of the best reasons to upgrade an alternator on the FC. The large capacity alt is not working very hard to do it's job.

I am not concerned in the least about heat on this Taurus alternator.

wow .. +1.

Thank you for sharing.

I have a question about the pulley. Did you modify the stock one, or put an rx7 v pulley on there? Or did you just go around the junkyard looking for a v that fit the shaft?

Also are you willing to make + sell the adapters you made?

The pulley is from a SBC alternator. My bud at xxxxx'x Auto managed to 'find' it for me. Basically, he pulled it from a reman alt and put one from a core alt back on the reman. This was to help me with the wear pattern for belt alignment.

Make sell the adaptors? I dunno about that. I barely have time to do my own fun, let alone with someone elses. I hadn't though of this, but let me think about it.

ok. If you don't plan on selling it, could you at least share the specs so we may build (have someone build) our own?

Thanks
~Tweak

If it was the 3.0L or 3.2L SHO engine, they redline @ 7000RPM :icon_tup:

The thing to check if the alternator's durability is in question, is the diameter of crank pulley and alternator pulley's on the Taurus. This information, along with the redline can give you the maximum alternator RPMs.

Compare this to the pulleys and RPMs on the RX-7 and you will be able to see what you are working with :icon_tup:

Vince

The way I read it you just bent a bracket and started stacking washers. I had the same debate with someone who started stacking whell spacers until it fit. You see my concern. kudo's for actually using some measuring tools and empoying "higher" math


Well that's good


Thanks, already fully aware of source of killer heat on an alt. In my instance, I am overrunning a tested 110Amp FD alt with the fan, lights, heat, wipers and stereo going. So you see my concern when I say heat. I'm going to try to find a place that can rebuild my FD alt to 130-150+ amps. I admire you taking the time to do this, I wouldn't though. Just my $.02

looks alot like my alternator
Attachment 720696

That looks like a direct fit. Where did that come from and what is the rated amps please?

Oh, that is a common mistake- I frequently make the same mistake of confusing wheel adapters for Alternator mounts. :)






Hey, you brought up heat. Seems that it should not have even been worth discussing if you understood where the heat comes from. :scratch:

So, you have an inadequate alternator? Is it really or are you guessing? Do you know how many amps your alternator is producing when all that jazz is running? What I am asking is have you actually measured the output while the accessories are running? If you haven't you don't really know. If you don't know, then you may not need an upgrade. You should measure the amp draw then decide. You might be just fine.

If you are having voltage problems at idle but not down the road, rewinding will only hurt not help your situation. If you get your alt rewound, the output at low rpms will suffer.

I try to approach things systematically. I don't 'buy a cure' until I know there is a measurable problem. I also don't half do things. Thanks for the complements, and I really do appreciate your constructive criticism and analysis. That makes us all a little better and likely answers questions that other readers may have. It keeps us all sharp.

Thanks for your comments.

Nicely done. Give us the part info!

No no no, you're misunderstanding me. Someone didn't know how to measure something and he asked for a suggestion. Someone told him to keep stacking spacers on until they fit. His solution was to just add spacers becuase he didn't understand math






I'm saying I have a similar setup in my car. Last time I checked my alt was not keeping up under full load. I mentioned the heat becuase I feel that your setup may be running close to 85+% of rated capacity. Throw in higher revs and well, you know the rest

I was having voltage problems while running down the road. My alt was not suffiecient. I have also change a bunch of things so I am undecided if I'm going to get it rebuilt or not. i need to take the entire thing apart to coat the housing so while it's apart, why the hell not.

http://www.hitachi-hap.com/products/...ter/index.html

http://www.hitachi-hap.com/products/...Water/howa.jpg

You missed the part where I actually measured the output from the alternator. I know how much the load was on my alternator. I am currently only running 45% capacity on my new 130 amp alternator, I was running 75% capacity on my old S5 alternator.

You should test to determine how much your alternator needs to put out to run your car and accessories. I tested by inserting an ammeter between the alternator and the main fuse. This way, every amp of power produced was accurately measured. I tested 60 amps on my car.

Your S6 alternator is designed and rated for 100 amps. It may test at 110 amps, but it is still a 100 amp alternator. Ask it to put out 110 or even 100 amps for very long and it is toast. If it is unable to keep up going down the road, then the alternator may be burning out. Rewinding it will only increase the higher rpm output and will hurt the idle output. I am not making this up.

You are just teasing us!

That a Taurus fan on your 7 or a Mark VIII?

hehe.

this is the alternator i have, it is 170 amps

http://www.motorcityreman.com/9294tempo23l.html

...

yeah, thats the 2 speed taurus fan... with the headlights on low beam , the heater on, the radio blasting and the Taurus fan running on hi the battery would just run out until the headlights looked like candles... so I put the 3G alternator on and it fixed all my problems