kevino

Ok, I have an 88 TII. I recently refurbished a few of the key grounds on my car in an attempt to get rid of the 3000 rpm hesitation and to gain electrical performance in the higher rpms. I have noticed an improvement, however it has not completely cured the problems. When I have more accessories on, like the head lights especially, the 3000 rpm hesitation comes back and the engine hesitates more in the higher rpms. Also my headlights become dim when the engine is at idle. Aside from re-doing the grounds, I'm not sure what else I can do to keep the car pulling with the lights on. So, does it sound like an upgraded alternator would help to keep the ignition system strong and get rid of this damn hesitation? Thanks

Shadix518

what all accessories do you have on the car? the factory alternator runs about 60 to 65 amps i believe. so it may be the problem. being its an s4 motor you would have a little wiring to do if you wanted to do the 3rd gen alternator swap. if it was an s5 youd be able to plug it right in. only thing you would have to do is add a little extension. but depending on how many accessories you have all depends on weather you need the alternator swap. being me i would go ahead and do the swap for future aplications.

kevino

I don't have a lot of accessories. The only additional component I have added is a Super-AFC, which didn't seem to effect it at all when I installed it a couple of years back. I think the entire electrical system has gained extra resistance the last couple of years just from getting old. If I can avoid redoing the whole electrical system by upgrading the alternator I would be happy. I kind of like the idea of getting the S4 alt rewound to so I can keep the bolt on capability.

Shadix518

well the 3rd gen is a bolt up install just need wiring to the alternator alone.

ericgrau

iTrader: (1)

You redid the ECU ground right? Both at the ECU and the line going through the firewall? What's the voltage at idle? Is it at least 12V?

Doesn't sound like an alternator issue. If anything the alternator might be old and not putting out much juice, but I dunno about that. Then again if your voltage drops below 12 at idle or below 14 at 3500-4000 rpm then it might be related. In that case it'd mean a weak old alt, and a new one would hopefully be enough. While I'm not 100% sure, I don't think it's possible for old wire to get that weak.

BASTARD

iTrader: (4)

The 3rd gen alternator will also require a pulley change. As stated before the OEM alernator puts out about 60amps however, that is RPM based. Which means that the alternator will output less at idle RPM then at cruising RPM or above.

You can always try a smaller pulley, but your best bet is to get a alternator that outputs more amps total. You should be able to have a local alternator repair shop rewind the amature and install a higher amp voltage regulator for a nominal price

something i have found to help is a new battery and battery cables. but another issue that most people overlook is that older wiring tend to build up corrosion. the corrosion at the terminals can create resistance that puts a bigger demand on the alternator (even if it's a new/reman alternator). So your best bet is to clean the connections at all the circuits that use big amperage like the headlights and other corrosion prone areas under the hood and chassis

the only real fix would be to install a new harness (like thats really gonna happen)

Icemark

Actually the S4 alt is 70 amps peak and the S5 alt is 80 amps peak... not sure where you guys are getting the 60 amps from unless it is from an old alt that is starting to fail.

Dimming of the headlights indicates that the alt is nearing the end of its usable life. The voltmeter on nonturbos is pretty accurate and should indicate 14.4 volts regardless of RPM on a stock car. If it is dropping under 13.5 volts then the battery is not being charged correctly, and if it is dropping under 12.6 volts the car is running on the battery.

Therefore if you have a basically stock car, there is no need to upgrade the alternator. Only if you have additional electrical draw (such as using a electric fan, or additional lights, or a multiple amp audio system) then you can think about an upgrade.

But the stock alt running in the correct condition will make more than enough power to run everything on the car.

arghx

iTrader: (3)

clean the main battery ground, that helps.

kevino

I have replaced the battery grounds and wire terminals completely

Yes I redid the ECU ground and added an extra. I do not have a voltage meter on my car, where can I check manually with a voltmeter?

Your right, thats not gonna happen

So do you think a new stock alternator will correct the hesitation issues I am experiencing? Also what do you think about new spark plug wires (mine are about 2 years old) or possibly new coils? I thought the stock coils were pretty full proof though.

RotaryRocket88

iTrader: (7)

Replacing coils and plug wires probably won't help you, but new battey cables might depending on their condition. I replaced mine awhile back when I had alternator trouble, but it didn't get rid of 3800 hesitation. Regrounding everything did nothing either.

Putting in a higher amp alternator make sense logically since more power is available to overcome old wiring's additional resistance.

Icemark

Hesitation issues at the 3000-4000 RPM range are almost always related to a poor ground. Check or replace the grounds for the engine, ECU, pressure sensor, and intake manifold.

Hesitation at higher RPMs (5500+) are almost always related to poor spark, either from bad cables, bad timing, bad plugs, weakly grounded coils.

FC Coils almost never fail unless someone does something too them (trying to get more performance).