missinglink

I run my alt / electrical at 15.8/16v for a reason!!! To show people that a 15v fluctuating charge will not hurt your electrical/PCM. The key is the ( fluctuating charge ) this allows your alt the ability to function as normal and adjust to the demands and changes from your cars batteries , alternator , and audio needs. ect... Thanks, MLA

The sub amps will draw more power of course mainly on the lower 30hertz tunning range. You need alot more solid power and storage to hold the low notes!!! X2 mids and highs they should be fine, duel batteries are a good idea for most audio applications anyway. MLA

Not to much $15 or $20 maybe less. I will be there tomorrow, PM me your # I'll call you while I'm there with the price! MLA

Most fords have the same issue with duel alt configures. Mainly because they have to many differences between years and models per year , and from year to year. Most alt guys do not want 20 different brackets fabbed in stock. Your best and only hope is to fad one your self they are not that hard. Just use your angles to get the most wrap around the pulley. (keeps it from squealing). Hope this help in some way. Just do it and when you do make two and wait till some one else needs the same setup. MLA

I can get you one tomorrow if you want I'm not sure what the price will be but I' will be there anyway. I would get you one for what he charges me anyway plus shipping. Let me know I would be glad to help!!!! Chris@ MLA

Well If you ran 2 batteries with a module you should be fine. I would try to get a 130/140amp stock alt and you would have plenty of alt to keep up with things. (pending on how you bump it of course 10/15min at a time @ full tilt you may drop, as with most things electrical there is a limit. A module gives your alt the higher voltage bar its up to your alt to maintain it!!!! MLA

18 are nice if you have the room, plus more cone area ftw. They would take 1800 watts easy just set the sub sonic as close to the tunning freq as posiable to keep the subs from playing below tuning which is the #1 sub killa , not to much power like most think. How you set the gains and the SUB SONIC filter determines how long any sub will last. BL's are under rated big time and are insane on the lows as well. (Ported only sub NOT for sealed) MLA

Smart man. I would "reset the belt clock to zero" myself - I hate doing stuff twice. Gasket sealant is an old argument. Personally I dislike silicone in most places. It is too slippery, and does not bond to anything really well. It can allow the long skinny parts of the W/P gasket to slide out of the joint... If you need to use sealant, I would use either Permatex High-Tac, or a very thin coat of Permatex Aviation. Let either one dry for an hour or more. Put a thin coat on the block, and a thin coat on one side of the gasket. Once dry, you can stick the gasket on the block (snot to snot) and it will stay right where you want it. The most important part is making sure the sealing surface is clean & dry. Use a big towel to soak up all of the coolant that keeps dribbling out if you have to. Scrub the sealing surface on the block AND the new pump with a rag & carb cleaner. It is best to use a torque wrench on the bolts in that engine. You can make for a future leak by overtightening the W/P bolts. Depending on where you live, use only enough coolant to keep it from freezing in the winter, and NEVER more than 50%. Inspect all of your hoses while you have the system empty. If you see one that is "wet" on the end, it has a small leak. They fail inside, and the coolant wicks down the reinforcing fibers - and out the end. Replace any hose like that, or it will burst eventually. 'Link

Let me expand a bit on what you can (and can't!) do with an alternator, and where some of the stories come from. Older alternators with a regulator mounted on the firewall (OEM) were simple systems. If you open one of those old cans, you will find a coil, a pair of contacts, and a couple of resistors. They have only 2 or 3 steps, depending on the make & year of the vehicle - old Chrysler products had only 50% & 100% output. There was no temperature sensing of any kind. Now, if you hooked that system up to a couple of 8D batteries that were almost dead - you will kill the alternator every time. The voltage regulator will keep the field running 100%, without regard for the alternator temperature. Someplace past 250 degrees either the diodes fail, or the insulation does. Dead alternator. One of the many reasons OEM's went to internal regulators was the placment of a temperature sensor inside the actual alternator. If you push a stock IR alternator too hard, it simply reduces field current. Alternators keep getting better. Gently pry the cover off of a 3G ford regulator sometime. You will find a small computer, with dozens of surface mount components. Temperature sensing. Field decay time measurement. Load anticipation. You can put a dozen 8D batteries on that alternator, and charge them all. Older alternators were also rated with a system that assumed they would only need maximum output 10% of the time. A 60 amp ford 1G was only good for 60 amps for a few minutes - not hours and hours. Cars had 30 amp generators a few years before, and the total system load before A/C was common was about 25 amps. Now some cars pull 42 amps at the radiator fan. New alternators have dual fans, high temp components etc. They are designed to make rated load for longer periods of time. A caddy with dual electric fans, A/C, electric windshied defrost, power everything... came with a 140 amp alternator. At idle the system load can be 100 amps at times. The battery has to provide some of that power at idle, but once you accelerate the alternator is replacing that power - recharging the battery - and running the system. The short answer to the original question is yes, your 90 amp alternator can take care of two batteries. The bigger picture is how much load are you putting on the batteries? If you run a 5kw load all the time, the load eventually wins. Your battery voltage will gradually drop if you are taking more out than you put in - just like your bank balance. Running lots of batteries, and charging overnight is one way around adding charging capacity. Charging at a slightly higher voltage also helpd cover the gap in load vs charging capacity. By moving the charging curve up a bit, you cause the alternator to put out full power before the voltage in the batteries drops by 15% - basically extending your storage capacity by 15%. 'Link

Call ClutchNet (626) 448-7432 Monday. Tell them exactly what you want to do with the vehicle, and any engine mods you have. They do have a website, but it has waaaay too much stuff on it & is a pain to navigate. My 1986 Ranger 2.3L was slipping by 40k miles. I put a ClutchNet disk in it, and put 125k miles on that disc. The second ClutchNet disc was still hooking up well with over 120k on it when the engine let go... Your Ranger has an annular piston slave cylinder that is self-adjusting. You really want to keep that feature. 'Link

The Chilton manual is ok, as long as it covers what you want to fix. They are vague on A/C, but usuallu OK on things like timing belts. You might want to pick up a waterpump gasket for that car, and study it while looking at where you see the leak when hot. There are a couple of areas on that gasket where the gasket is narrow, and the span between bolts is long. Given that this is a pain in the ass to get to, you want to make sure you are fixing the actual leak... If the engine was rebuilt @135k, then you are not due for a timing belt yet. You can go ahead & replace it now if you want to - or do the job again in 35k miles & save 75 bucks for now. Depends on how your finances look, and if you plan to keep the car a long time. 'Link

Well first off what type vehicle? Second it should be able to keep up to 3 batts up if you bench charge them first. Added voltage to 15v will keep them up with a stock alt. Simple easy fix mane!!! What type of car is needed for better answers for your topic. Thanks, MLA

Vapor lock? On that vehicle? Pure comedy gold. Any decent mechanic will be laughing as soon as you turn your back if you tell him that. 1997 model year Nissans have electronic fuel injection. This is not vapor lock. The good news is a 1997 will have OBD - On Board Diagnostics. You should start by pulling the codes to see what may be causing the poor performance. A failing sensor (TPS, O2, MAP, IAT, CT, MAF...) or a weak ignition system component could cause what you describe. Your fuel pressure should be right at 34 psi with the engine idling, and should go up to 43 psi if you pull the vacuum line off of the fuel pressure regulator. 'Link

That year of Dynasty should have the timing belt replaced every 60,000 miles. You really do not want to break the belt, it usually destroys the engine. Because the belt is a scheduled replacment item, the job is not too bad. You need to put the car on stands, and pull the right front wheel & inner fender to get at everything. Once you have all of the accesory drives removed, and the acessories out of the way you can jack up the engine a bit & remove the mount. At that point you can pull the crank pulley & timing belt cover. Watch the bolt lengths on the cover, there are several different bolts. Then you can replace the belt. If you do not change the waterpump while you have the belt out, you are a damn fool. The book labor time is 4.6 hours to do a timing belt & water pump. The water pump part of that is .7 hours - the rest is the belt. You should be able to do it in a day in the driveway. I would recomend an AllData subscription if you plan to do that job. Worth every penny. Probably a 500 to 600 buck job if you take it someplace. You say it overheats due to "low coolant". It is probably leaking a little all the time. Because of where the leak is, you don't see a drip - it evaporates or is sprayed off by the belt. That car should go months without a coolant level drop. How many miles are on the car? 'Link

Stop leak rarely fixes anything, but usually screws up something more expensive. It it has leaked coolant before, you have a leak. It may only leak bad when the engine is hot & coolant pressure is high, but it is still a leak you need to deal with. What is the year / make / model / engine for the leaking vehicle? 'Link

Now that's dedication! If the "crackle" is still there with the engine switched off, you can eliminate the alternator & ignition for a source of noise. One of the best (worst!) electrical noise sources GM ever had was the 30 cent "Key in igntion" buzzer. Made enough RF to be used for an emergency transmitter... Check all of your grounds, and signal connectors. If it is worse with the engine vibration added to the vehicle, you may find it with a "wiggle test" of all connections & components - one at a time with the engine off. If you shake or move something & get a pop - you are right on top of the source. 'Link

Our module will not do anything for that kind of noise. We do use ferrite inductors to reduce the switching noise feedback from the internal regulator. The ferrite damps the 400hz switching noise, as well as other resonant noise. Many newer alternators are equipped with avalance diodes which help clamp noise spikes. Some alternators also contain a capacitor to deal with noise. Without knowing what vehicle & alternator type you are running, it is difficult to guess the actual source. You say this started when you installed the alternator - what else was done when you did the job? Did you R&R a plug wire for access? You mention the "big 3". Do you have a ground wire making good contact with the actual aluminum alternator case, running straight to the battery negative? 'Link

Boon: You have what we call "cordless audio" in my shop. Just like a cordless drill, you need to maintain the batteries from an AC source. Works great, as long as you keep them charged. You can get a decent bench supply from a place like Fry's for about 80 bucks. A good 5 amp bench supply with adjustable current limit & voltage can be used to do all kinds of things. Set the current limit to 5 amps, and the voltage to 14.7 for bulk charge. Set the voltage to 13.8 & current @ 500ma when you go on a long vacation... you get the idea. 1/10c is the accepted safe charging for sealed batteries like small NiCad cells. A recombinant AGM might handle more, but 1/10c is safe. Try an 8 hour run & measure cell voltage 4 hours later. You will quickly find the needs of your particular system. 'Link

Accordman: I see you promote AA ,Scott is an awsome guy to know and personal friend. Next time you talk to him ask him his thoughts on the module he backs us 100%. Not to mention we did all the testing to my hummer at his shop between orders.lol He helped us with module set points and design as well. Accurate info and testimonials are the best for any product we just happen to supply both. Please ask us of your concerns we would like to know and love to help. Steve's had his for over 3 months now and its 15.3vcold 14.7v hot. Any ? anytime, Chris@MLA

Well since we DO NOT over ride the alts control functions ,and after start when alt warms up you will see it stabilize around 14.8v I guess .1 volt is just too close for comfort to some. Next time some one talks to a battery manuf. When you ask about voltage acceptance ask them the TRUE question. It is not a constant 15v our module fluctuates with battery fullness and alternator temp compensation between 14.8v and 15.1v. PART two ask them which is worse on their batteries charging .2volts higher than the 14.9v or dropping to 11volts cause your shit cant keep up. Please let me know this answer I know the answer but apparently we now nothing even tho I run mine @ 15.8v/16.2v for the last 9months and they still hold @ 13.3v well over any safety warnings. ALL companies do not say the very highest max before damage they leave some head room I'm sure they leave more than .2 volts for (burn out , dry out , explosion ,or Hiroshima type catastrophe) sorry got a little wild . Look at the FI BTL thats rated for 2000 watts RMS, but people (Meade) put over 4000 watts per sub no problems huh why is this you say. Scott is allowing for the stupidity factor. Its just companies protecting them selves if you ask the question right I bet you will get more accurate information back. Plain and simple if they don't now its safer to so no!!!! I guess we will post the battery in brads truck. Its a 10year old auto zone shelf battery and has been charging @ 15+ volts for over 4yrs and still holds a 12.8/12.9v resting charge. Please keep us in the loop on this question. Sorry If I'm sounding pissy cause I am a little MLA

Well what kinda car is the most important question? A single 300 amp alt once HOT will lower its output because of internal heat. You should only count on 200amps at max for your output in most single alt cases due to heat (internally controlled), and the rest of your cars components. If you want 2 -4000D's and 2- 4ch amps you are looking @ well over ANY single alt /battery or ies limits. One 300amp alt and 4 big batteries might keep up for a little bit, but you will need to keep a close eye on your voltage. If the voltage drops quick then you do not have enough storage and your alt wont be able to keep up. 2-4000d and 2 -4ch amps will pull well over any alts output compacity. One alt on 4 batteries with that much draw will have a hard time keeping up. Check on the idle output if you will play at shows/demo alot most 300amp alts have a low idle output. Hope some of this helps ,good luck MLA

Well kids, reading is fundamental. My post above outlines using a 15+ volt balancing charge for multiple battery banks, and suggests a 10% of capacity charge before checking resting voltages. At no time did I suggest charging at a constant 15+ volts Modern AGM batteries are recombinant, and very difficult to "cook" or dry out. Some gassing must occur for the high rates they are capable of. AGM batteries are designed to deal with this by recombining the hydrogen & oxygen to produce water - which is retained in the cell. If you were to do something really stupid, like use an adjustable regulator set at a fixed 16 volts you would over time damage a VRLA type AGM battery. The MLA module does not charge at a fixed voltage. It uses the OEM regulator, and modifies the charging curve. On a warm day with a fully charged battery, you may see .5 volts above stock. Fixed voltage charging is the wrong way to treat any battery. You might want to take the time to learn more about VRLA batteries before you condemn any charging above 14.9 volts. There is substantial research to prove that some VRLA batteries respond very well to charging voltages as high as 16.5 volts - and a certain ammount of overcharge as well. I have posted this link before, but it bears repeating: NREL Testing of Optima Batteries The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) is a government research agency located in Colorado. They spent a pile of tax dollars proving just how good current VRLA batteries really are. That link is a 17 page pdf published by an independent, government laboratory - not a battery manufacturer. 'Link

You need the AD244 Alt for your tahoe from who ever. The iraggi listed is the same AD244. You need to look @ idle output if you park and play alot. Idle is where you need the most power output(I feel). Just depends on your style! You really have 2 options: high output above idle better output @ idle all companies spec are different so try to see where you fit in. If you demo alot you want higher @ idle if you drive more than demo then the higher while driving should be fine. Double check where your vehicle's idle sits then compare to the alts idle needs. Some alts do not even turn on till over 1000RPM's so look at all of these so you get the best for your needs. Oh we fit AD244's MLA

Your toyo's little nippondenso alternator will do all it can, but there are limits. That alternator has an internal regulator with thermal sensing. It will back off if it is running too hot. You will not hurt it, but you will not be able to charge all of that battery bank if it is badly depleted. AGM's respond well to higher voltages, if the current is well controlled. Depending on the brand & chemistry, 15+ volts can be very benificial. In this particular application I would say you absolutely need to have AC charging available. High current charging for bulk charge is fine, you may also want a higher voltage trickle charge for cell balancing. Most AGM's need to see the 15+ volts occasionally for cell balance. Even Chris' outrageous H2 has managed to get out of balance once. A bench type regulated power supply will work fine for your system. Set the voltage about 15.3, and the current limit around 1 amp. Charge for 1/10c, and measure the resting voltage of the cells after 4 (or more) hours off charge. Adjust charging times accordingly. We can of course adjust the vehicle charging voltage up, but your money is best spent on a power supply at this time. Any decent battery charger will put the bulk of the charge back into the cells, but to get all of the performance available takes more managment. 'Link