with the fading of the old 65amp alternator i have decided to upgrade my alternator to a nice shiny 100amp 1 wire alternator. However automotive electrical is my kryptonite...even the simple kind haha. My car is a 71 maverick grabber with a 302. I acquired the "jegs" brand generic one wire and from what i understand from other posts i've read on the boards I just have to connect a decent gauge wire from the positive terminal of the battery to the one and only battery post on the alternator itself correct? I mean there's another what seems to be a two prong connection on the alternator itself that has a rubber gromet over it, does anything go here? But my question is what about the rest of the harness, i'm not sure what wires i need to eliminate or re splice and to where? From my understanding this will also eliminate the stock voltage regulator on the car as well. The previous owner had an electric fan hooked up to the car as well that seems to go to its own little relay set up and then too the harness. would this just go to the positive terminal and a ground like any other accessory? And i hear with a one wire set up that my Alt light well be continously lit on my dash, can this be avoided and connected to the alternator its self as well since the alt is internally regulated? Would that make the light functional? I know its hard just reading a bunch of words and knowing whats going on under my hood so ill post pics in a little bit, but basically im asking for a step by step instructions to do this conversion preferrable with pictures and easy to understand words and visuals and also how to tap in the accesories and to where. If that makes any sense haha.
Did it come with any instructions? http://mmb.maverick.to/showthread.php?t=90893&highlight=wire+alternator
Instructions?! of course not! haha, but the alternator i have is pretty spot on identical to the one that the guy purchased from summit in the posts. it seems that the two prongs on the alternator get connected to the two prongs on the voltage regulator. is this correct like in the picture? and what of the rest of the wires? That link helped, but i still see some conflicting info and more questions than answers.
One wire is one wire going back to the battery. This wire doesn't connect to the battery post but to the starter solenoid post where the battery cable is connected. When you remove the regulator you will see most of those wires went to the old alternator and starter solenoid. Since you removed the wire from the regulator that goes to the ALT light...the ALT light will not light up. Not all one-wire alternators work with the ALT light and you will need (or want) a volt meter to monitor the charging system. If the little cover comes off you can hook up the ALT light. If the cover can't come off without breaking it you may want to use a gauge instead of light.
You don't want that many amps going to a gauge. It is a fire hazard. A voltmeter only cost $15-$25 and is much safer
" Tuff Stuff 1-wire alternators are bi-directional and will charge when spun in either direction." I didn't know that...
So will a std alt... The OEM on my supercharged Marauder was flipped to face the engine and still charged just fine...
The main thing you need to watch for when spinning an alternator backwards is the alternator cooling fan. Most early alternators have a directional fan and the alternator will burn up after time when spun backwards.
so im pretty confident now as to how to hook the alternator up. i still have one question about the wires from the voltage regulator though. some of the diagrams show wires going FROM the top prongs on the voltage regulator to the alternator. what i dont know is is it the original wires that connected to those prongs that go to the alternator prongs, ie. unplug the wires from the voltage regulator and send them to the alternator prongs? Or am i removing the original wires from the voltage regulator and adding new wires directly from the alternator prongs TO the prongs ON the voltage regulator? And this is supposed to make my ALT light on my dash function? And whats the verdict on the ammeter? can it function with this set up, or is it a fire hazard to leave it attached and i should just go for a volt meter in its place?
