i've gone through two in four days, third one is going in an hour. All used. The first one i chaulked up to old age, the second one, just as old went through through an accident that destroyed the front cover. So im HOPING that it was just jarred enough to make it not work properly.

Is there any accessory item that might cause the voltage regulator to short? I really cant think of anything.

 

uneven rotating mass?

 

well they are used alternators. i have had bad luck with new ones. lol.
i suppose that if you had some serious resistance in your charge wire you could stress out the alt. do a voltage drop test.
i would pony up for an alternator with a life time warranty.

edit. you could also have an intermitant power problem with your field wire.

 

S4 alternators seem to categorically be ****. I would buy a NEW one if you can, instead of used or refurbished. Make sure it's wired in correctly.

 

Go with an s5 alt?

 

I have broken tons of S4 alts.. They always seem to break on me after a HI rpm run @ the tracks.

I think its about normal. The alts were never meant to take such HI rpm levels as we can produce.

 

i would have a look at the wiring, the bad s4 alt i had back in the day really turned out to be a bad connection on the charging system harness.

the s5 alt "fixed" it, but not really

 

get a new s4/s5 alt and run a 2000-3000 amp and you could probably kill it in a week.

 

Make sure you have a tested and fully charged battery before you install another alternator.

 

turns out the 8mm bolt backed out. Didnt put the lock washer back. Horrah for "doh" mistakes.

 

Buy a S6 alternator it a 100 amps or better. I got mine from Silverotor with a double pully on it. Try the manual for alternator testing procedures.

Ramses666