Higher amp alternators

[1988ma70supra]

I am replacing my alternator and I'm thinking of replacing it with a high amp alternator since I'm running two amps and some other electronics on the car. A friend of mine showed me this one on ebay and saw that its 200amps. I checked out this guy with several of his previous customers and I've only heard from a couple of them but they did say he was legit. My only questions with this is whether 200 amps is too much for the car to handle? I've seen other high output alternators and they have all been at around 140amps. Is there a certain amperage the factory wiring needs to stay under?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/e...witem=&sspagename=STRK:MEWAX:IT#ht_1119wt_905

 

[MK3pizzadriver]

Sure doesn't look "2 TIMES BIGGER YOUR STOCK"...

 

[supraguy@aol]

I have a 140 amp alternator, and haven't seen any difference over the stock unit.
Alot of the time, the amp rating these guys talk about is at a certain temp and a certain rpm,
and it can be misleading.

 

[MarkIII4Me]

I have serious reservations believing that the pictured alternator pushes those kind of amps. The alternator appears to be the factory housing. You'd think it would require more than just a rewound coil to increase the amperage over 150%. And in that housing, there's no room for a larger coil. Look around at other 200amp alternators. Those babies are BIG.

 

[GrimJack]

200 isn't too much - I'm running much larger than that in my 7M car. Only downside is that it doesn't charge at idle.

 

[RazoE]

Is there such a thing as too much? Or do they have built in limiters?

I don't want to turn my car into a rolling electrical fire..

 

[super.secret.supra.club]

Grim, why doesn't it charge at idle? Too low of rpm?

Look into the mr2 alt. I think they are at 180

I have had problems withgetting power to my amps and other electronics in my car too. Instead of buying and new alt I tried strapping my car by grounding fenders and making new leads to the battery, best thing I've ever done. Now the motor even reacts better.

Reason I started to do this was because after my head light retrofit my lights (much more sensitive to amperage over stock) would slightly dim when my sub would hit. I thought it was my bat/alt not giving enough juice. Friend of mine who owns a stereo shop said majority of time with old cars were bad grounds. Gave me a spool of 4 gauge wire and it worked.

 

[GrimJack]

The shop that built it for me tells me the stator needs to spin a little faster than it does at idle. I don't drive it in traffic, so it's not an issue. Hell, I VERY rarely turn up the stereo, either, which is the reason for the killer alternator. It's really just leftover from my foolish youth.

 

[MarkIII4Me]

I'm using 1/0 gauge high strand wire from alt to battery, battery to frame and frame to block. Might as well go big since the runs are quite short to begin with, so wire cost is at a minimum. You can have a smaller diameter pulley machined for your alternator to push more amperage at idle. Not sure how small you can go and still be safe. Too small means the alternator will shatter at high rpm. I have a 48mm on mine now, but haven't ran it yet. The factory one is 64mm I believe; something around there anyways.

With my my luck, I'll forget about it when I first fire up my engine and the damn thing will blow up in my face while I'm tinkering under the hood

 

[super.secret.supra.club]

Lol @ ^ this guy

 

[1988ma70supra]

I have had problems withgetting power to my amps and other electronics in my car too. Instead of buying and new alt I tried strapping my car by grounding fenders and making new leads to the battery, best thing I've ever done. Now the motor even reacts better.

My headlamps are also dimming when the bass hits. Ill have to try this and hopefully get the same results you did.
Thanks for all the input guys