Supplementary alternator wiring: 4.0 SOHC

[Dora The 4x4'a]

the B+ terminal is a positive terminal..hense the +.. and yes it goes to the solenoid, both sides of the solenoid are positive so it doesnt realy matter where you hook it up to, but you should hook it up to the one where it came off of

 

[MakingBoost]

Correct Sir... Run a piece of 0g from the bolt down terminal on the alt to the positive on the battery.....

Also its a good idea to run a strand from the negative of the battery to the frame with a piece of 0g. Then ground your big current devices direct to the frame.

Good luck!

 

[Blacksheep Josh]

Yeah, I bought a 24" battery cable with terminals at both ends and just used that. Was easier then making my own, and was about 5-6 dollars. Worked like a charm, my battery gauge is now rock steady.

 

[aldive]

Yeah, I bought a 24" battery cable with terminals at both ends and just used that. Was easier then making my own, and was about 5-6 dollars. Worked like a charm, my battery gauge is now rock steady.

How did you fuse it?

Did you do the gound wire(s) the same size?

 

[Blacksheep Josh]

Can you define the use of of fuse? As in fuse the terminals to the cable or add in a fuse?

If you meant add a fuse in between the battery and alternator, I did not add one yet. I read about that on a repair info site after I had installed the wiring. Do you think this is really necessary? I know it protects the alternator in case the battery shorts, but what are the real chances of this?

If you meant how did I fuse the terminals to the cable, I didn't have to. This was a battery cable that had the terminals all ready installed onto the cable. Looked kinda like this, but the terminals were slightly smaller with bigger holes, and the cable wasn't nearly as long.

Edit: Was also 4 gauge wire.

 

[MakingBoost]

Fuses for the alt to bat line are pretty much a waste.

If anything you would want to use a breaker with an external trip light and not a high current fuse. Much cheaper in the long run, and plenty of current overhead!

 

[Blacksheep Josh]

Thanks Boost,

Are you in Savannah, GA currently? If so, I'm right up the road in Statesboro!

I'll have to think on the fuse situation, I've yet to have a problem, and don't think I really will... but I'm not positive, just going to think over it, and see what my options are once Aldive gets back on. I want to know what he did before making any decision.

 

[MakingBoost]

Yip sure am, I'll be in town until the 20th of Nov. Well have to get together sometime.... There is going to be a small meet-up on the 1st downtown savannah.... Mostly VW's but you never know what will be there!

BTW 4 of my 5 cars are setup with a direct hardwire. The fuse can really bite you in the ass, not to mention the amperage spikes that can kill a fuse in a heartbeat. Nothing worse than coming out to find that your alt fuse blew, and your battery is drained....

 

[CDW6212R]

You should try to have circuit protections on all circuits. Any short will burn through a wire which is unprotected, and fire is the worst possibility.

I don't know what is in the pre-95 Explorers, they could be fuses or fusible links. In the 95 up Explorers there is a large fuse bar between two main terminals on the Power Distribution Box. The main battery wire to the PDB. is the only one that the alternator should be connected to. There should be a protection between that and the PDB.

I'm just hinting that the alternator and battery should not be attached directly to the other side of the main circuit protection. It's easy to do that if the terminals are next to each other.

 

[93explorereb]

This is what I am experiencing now! I picked up new cables from Napa, and I will be installing them this morning!

Al, I had a problem with low voltage when the engine got hot. The internal regulator decreases voltage as it warms up. When I installed an external regulator in parallel with the internal one, it solved that problem. Just to test it, I unplugged the external regulator, and saw about 1 volt, or more of a decrease in voltage instantly. Plugging it back in brought it back up to normal.

 

[b_train_98]

Aldive, a few questions if you don't mind. Did you go directly from the alternator to the battery or to the fender relay? Did you use a fuse on the wire? I'm looking at doing this to my 93 soon, not sure if I should go to the relay or battery, and fuse? I do have a fusible link. 130 amp alternator, not sure if I'll upgrade yet. Thanks.

 

[aldive]

Aldive, a few questions if you don't mind. Did you go directly from the alternator to the battery or to the fender relay? Did you use a fuse on the wire? I'm looking at doing this to my 93 soon, not sure if I should go to the relay or battery, and fuse? I do have a fusible link. 130 amp alternator, not sure if I'll upgrade yet. Thanks.

Definitely go alternator to battery and definitely use a fuse.

 

[b_train_98]

Just adding a wire? I guess that explains why you go from the alternator mounting bolt to the battery ground. Any recommendations for the fuse? 130 amp alternator now, maybe upgrade later.

 

[Dora The 4x4'a]

i have not posted for a while but out of curiosity... why the fuse? i dont see what the purpose is. atleast for first gen's.. we hav rather simple systems. sorry i have not posted my pics and step by step. but i will when i get home from school. regardless.. the fuse issue is interesting. i did not bother adding in any fuses. i just upgraded EVERYthing to 4g. however,

for the record. a re-vamp of my charging system with 4g wire....AND a optima yelowtop i did not see ANY benefit! :-\

 

[CDW6212R]

All wiring should have circuit protection as part of it. The only places that don't will be the two battery cables leading to their main connections.

For the alternator wiring it is more logical to use the same kind of circuit protection as the original wiring. If you have fusible links, do that. If you have fusing, use a fuse. If you have the later type of a fuse bar, then you only have to be sure to connect the wire on the same post as the OEM wire.

They all work to do the same thing. Fusible links are very troublesome to replace, while fuses and fuse bars are much easier to deal with.

The 95+ Fords probably all have fuse bars to separate the alternator and battery from the main wiring. Just look for two main posts at the power distribution box close together, with a fuse bar connecting them.