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Ford Explorer Community - Maintenance - Modifications - Performance Upgrades - Problem Solving - Off-Road - Street
Explorer Forum Covers the Explorer ST, Explorer Sport, Explorer Sport Trac, Lincoln Aviator, Mercury Mountaineer, Mazda Navajo, Ford Ranger, Mazda Pickups, and the Ford Aerostar
I recently made the swap from the 95 amp to the 130 amp. At idle they both suck. My lights still dim if I am at a stop light and I have my blinker on at the same time as the heat. Waste of money if you ask me. Tell him to get the 200 amp on from the group buy going on.
If you run a slightly smaller pulley the alternator will be spinning faster.
This will get you more power at idle, but it may also wear out the bearings on the alternator sooner IF you drive at higher rpms often.
I've gone through 1 alternator in about 1 year due to the bearing failing, but I drive at 2750rpms for about 1 hour every day... I got a lifetime waranty on my alternator so it wasn't a big deal.
Have you guys checked your wires at the starter relay? I had some corrosion on the connector that gave me the same symptoms on my 91 STX. Try running another 10 ga. cable from the positive battery terminal to the post on the starter relay. If the current can't get from the starter relay to the battery, you will have a large voltage drop at idle.
I got lucky and found that pulley on a rebuild alternator on my neighbors parts truck.
Basically measure how big your pulley is (how many grooves it has etc) and then head to the yard and start looking at fords with serpintine(sp?) belts. Once you find one with the smaller size, just buy the alternator (most places sell it dirt cheap since it is electrical adn there is no guarante that it will work (thats most places, not all yards).
One other think I noticed last night.. The belt may not last as long as it would if you had the normal pulley size since the tensioner has to move farther down to keep the belt tight. This in itself isn't a problem, but as it moves down it puts a tighter bend on the belt as it goes around the alternator. My belts last me a year no problem (40-50k miles) and then I change the belt. I change my belt and my hoses once a year if they need it or not (plus I carry a spare non a/c belt and hoses in the truck at all times anyway)