Alternator

[jc]

My bro has a 92' 196 with the 5.8 Pro Boss carb with the pro - tech ignition, the boat has always had charging / electrical issues since day 1 when he bought it in 93'. He has changed the comp board out as well as re-building and replacing alternators over the years but it always seems to have issues with dead batteries and going into limp mode, especially since the perfect pass was added, and never charges over 10.5, 11 on the gauge. Can you guy's recommend a larger more amperage alternator over the stock that has worked? What are your thoughts on the pro - tech ignition and swapping that out?
Thanks in advance.

[Rick]

RE: Alternator

I would take the alternator out and have it tested. The Voltage regulator is internal and ahould charge at at least 13 amps. I would also check that the grounds to the engine and the fuse block aren't corroded. good luck

[Rlbol]

RE: Alternator

They do make an upgraded alternator I cant remember which site sells them but it is one of the site sponsors so it shouldn't be to hard to find . it is a 100 amp verses the 55 amp so it should make a pretty big difference. I am going to be replacing my 55 amp to the 100 amp as well as adding a second battery.

[Chexi]

RE: Alternator

Skidim and Whitelake both have the upgrade.

[TRDon]

RE: Alternator

i have been investigating this too and a guy locally in the mustang club does electrical stuff and told me he can rebuild it to 140 amp specs for 125 and make it a 1 wire for another 20. Is this a good deal?

[TRBenj]

RE: Alternator

You need to add larger power and ground wires from the engine to the dash. These era boats are notorious for low and flakey voltage readings. I bet the gauge changes when you turn on your lights or run your blower? I assume the PP is wired directly to the dash as well? There are a lot of loads coming through that one #10 wire- any corrosion is going to make the voltage drop worse as well. Clean everything!

This is a voltage drop problem, not a current problem. Upgrading the alt wont help a thing unless the regulator in the existing alt is bad. The stock 35A or 45A alt is more than sufficient to run all of the stock loads on the boat, plus PP. Unless youre running a pretty beefy stereo, there really isnt any need to go with a larger one. If you do add a larger one, there are several other modifications you need to make to your charging/electrical system to keep your boat from burning to the waterline.

[Chexi]

RE: Alternator

From what I have read, converting to a 1 wire alternator is also probably not the best idea either.

[i_am_am]

RE: Alternator

Be careful having a small frame alternator "beefed up" in amperage. Most of the time it will put out 120 amps, but at 5000rpms! They usually do nothing at idle. One wire alternators make me nervous simply because at times the alternator , after sitting along time, cannot self excite. You can excite it manually, but can be difficult. I like external excitation.

[Chexi]

I also prefer external excitation.