hsilive

Hmm has anyone done a batter / capacitor instead of upgrading alt my local shop builds 135 amp custom alts using same housing cores but I also have a 5 farad capacitor and a yellow top !

Akagis_white_comet

iTrader: (4)

Not okay, Definitely bad!!! That points ot a faulty or unhooked Voltage Regulator. See the 2nd Gen FAQ and you'll read that above 15v means things like the Body CPU fry. My old Taurus Alt had the regulator fail a block away from home and even through 15ft of 4awg cable, it STILL tripped the 150A breaker sitting next to the battery in the hatch . Sideline your car and replace the voltage regulator. I got lucky that nothing was damaged, chances are you won't be as lucky as I was. For proper wiring, see my album here.

The best solution I found and use on my own car was part of a big electrical overhaul. Inside my fuse box is a retrofitted 140A fusible link from a Dodge Ram, which then feeds back into the rest of the box at the Main Entry Point. Since both connections are inside the box, everything is protected by design against shorting. Pictures are in my album.

With regard to circuit protection on a Taurus Alternator, a Circuit Breaker is not acceptable here for one reason: Heat Soak. CB's are thermal protection devices, they 'trip' when they get too hot, usually by too much current passing through them. Even with a heat shield, my old setup still tripped the 150A breaker under the hood consistently after about 10 minutes of normal driving.

The pulleys need to be aligned properly so it doesn't put lateral stress on the belt(s) in additional to the regular tension every belt sees. With my generic Jegs pulley on the Taurus Alt (all OEM, no case mods), the rear groove lines up but the front one doesn't. So I just run one belt on the rear groove. I suspect your belt is either too tight or the groove(s) aren't lined up properly. See the FSM for proper belt tension information.

Last, there is no ground needed for an alternator. It's bolted to the water pump housing and by extension, the shortblock which receives its ground from the Starter Negative Cable (also 4awg).

Craze8

Your Alt is full feilded and it will blow up/kill the battery. check your wiring, have the alt tested

Craze8

Reviving this thread. So the dual pulley on my FD alt bolted right onto the Taurus alt. At idle I get 14v now, I am still using the stock alternator cable. Flip on the lights and I instantly begin loosing charge. Same with my fan.

I am running out of time and starting to draw straws as to what's wrong. Its a brand new alt. Had the same thing happen with the junkyard one I tried as well. Something's not right and I can't put my finger on it and need some insight.

misterstyx69

iTrader: (142)

Just to mention that the FD alt shafts are the same to the Taurus(17mm)..BUT the original FD alt came with a ribbed belt pulley not a Dual belt pulley,so that will need to be sourced.

Craze8

I have a dual ribbed belt FD pulley as the car had an FD alt swapped into it when I bought it. The Taurus alt is a cheaper more readily had replacement. Not to mention more amperage. But 2 have done the same thing so far and its leaving me scratch my head

Akagis_white_comet

iTrader: (4)

Are you measuring this at the battery terminal(s) or going by the dashboard gauge? If using the stock gauge, it is just about perfect. When my Taurus fan kicks on, the voltmeter does drop a bit which is normal as it draws around ~23 amps on low. But the alternator sees this and goes "hey, I need to do a bit more" and bumps the voltage back up to 14v after about 2.5 seconds. I presume this is because mine is the 94+ version which according to my research has a Load Response Controller.

The other item I would look at is the voltage sensing wire, sounds like it might be looped back to the B output terminal when it should be connected to the battery's positive terminal. Follow my diagram to the letter and it should work properly.

N8ster36

i instaled a new ground to the frame anyways and didn't use one of thoes crapy breakers. From what i read thay melt. I used a big fuse like used in a amped sound system. Pully was from Mazdatrix. Have benn driving all summer with no problem. You can have the alt converted to a one wire too if you want i think.

N8ster36

oh and get rid of the original wire to battery,its to thin and it has some staple thing on it for a splice(NFG) I went with a massive guage wire 4guage i thin. Got it at a buddys audio shop.

Craze8

I have a tii so no volt gauge. Was measuring at the battery terminals. What I have found was my factory black white wire has a huge voltage drop and wasn't providing enough voltage back to the alternator.
At first I was using the belt that was on FD alternator setup and using the stock bracket with no extension it wasn't getting enough tension. So I dropped down .5" and rolled the alternator into place and got good tension. Seemed to do great till a full day at the drag strip, went to leave and the belt began to slip and ended up burning the belt off. Guess I need to make an extension for the tensioning bracket and go to the longer belt.
On a lighter note if in a crunch and on a short notice it can be made to work with a shorter belt

N8ster36

I had to extend my bracket a 1/4"

N8ster36

I cut it above where it mounted to water pump and welded same thickness steel to it,nice and clean. Looks stock.

gunmetalblue2010

Reviving again. I've been reading up on how this Taurus alternator is better than the OEM and I want the car to run more efficient. We upgraded the starter fuse from 80 to 140amp. But having trouble figuring out the wiring. Bought a Ford Taurus alternator connection pin and are reading conflicting information on what wire goes where. We tested the set up and the car runs again but it wasn't charging the battery. Does anyone have photos or a diagram of how the S4 should be wired in this situation?