New alternator question...

C-Man

OK, I really want a new alt for my '98 Integra. I've found a 180 amp for about 229, which is the best deal I've found so far, the only problem is it's damn near impossible to replace these things on my car. I've heard you have to jack the car up, remove the A-Arms and a few other things to get to it. I was quoted a price of about 200 in labor to have a local shop do it, plus the cost to have the car realigned. I was told by a audio dealer here that another option would be to get a big Stinger battery in the trunk, but wouldn't that just be something else to draw power from my already struggling alternator?

Keske944

a lirger battery won't do you any good if your alt can't supply power to the current battery. The only thing that a larger dry cell bat would do for ya is give you a little bit more time before you alt starts struggling again. If you want more advice than that we are going to have to know what you are trying to run in your car. What type of speakers, how many watts, how many amps, caps, batteries, I mean everything. You may have to rip out your alt or have someone do it for you. On ehting I would suggest is buying either a Haynes or Chilton book for your car. They will tell you exactly what you need to tdo to get to your alternator the easiest way (trust me I have a foriegn car myself and these books have turned nightmares into sweet dreams).

Hope this helps but I would still say replace the alternator. If you want a great system it comes at a price.

Adam Keske

C-Man

Current alt... 80-90 amp
JBL BP1200.1 @1 ohm, 100-115 amp draw
Soundstream Reference 200s, 15-20 amp draw
Crystal components in front, Infinity Kappa's in the rear for fill, all run by the Soundstream
Orion HCCA 15D run by the JBL
Stinger 1 farad cap, no digital display
I understand I do need a new alt... I was just making sure I was correct when I thought a battery in the trunk would do no good. You know, hopin' I knew what I was talking about at least a little bit.

Jstas

Uh, you don't want to put a battery in the trunk of a hatchback. It releases fumes as it discharges that are pretty nasty and quite harmful if not deadly. Also, if that battery happens to blow up while back there, there is not much between you and the battery and you could get injured, badly.

Like what was already said, if you are struggling with your current charging system, a bigger battery will do you no good unless you get a more powerful alternator. It is the only right way to do it. Anything else is a bandaid and we all know what happens with bandaids after a hard days work.

PoweredByDodge

Originally posted by Jstas
Uh, you don't want to put a battery in the trunk of a hatchback. It releases fumes as it discharges that are pretty nasty and quite harmful if not deadly. Also, if that battery happens to blow up while back there, there is not much between you and the battery and you could get injured, badly.

Optima Yellow Top battery -- its a gel cel (not lead acid battery) and it is "cabin safe" as they are termed explosive proof and due to the fact that they are 100% sealed and do not need to give off fumes like a Die Hard they won't knock u out either.

One problem -- price tag -- 180 to 200 dollars new depending on where u buy it.

regarding the alternator -- 90 amps isn't "bad"... i mean you're not exceeding your car's limits by THAT much -- the JBL only does like 85 - 90 amps tops at nominal power... the 100+ comes when the bass really SLAMS, but is only for a brief moment (unless you'r eplaying test tones in which case u're in ****). But 90 + 20 = 110...

you're only 20 over your 90 limit. that's not the end of the world... if your tight as hell on money, doing another battery (preferably UNDER THE HOOD) would give you a noticed improvement in reserve capacity... so as that for the most part your system would run off the alternator but when the big boom hit, it would suck maybe 10-20 A off each battery.... which is not unreasonable.

the alternator would be better... but if you 1) can't afford the alt + install 2) dont want to deal with the work of it... or 3) don't see yourself adding more power to this system, then i think if you could fit another battery under the hood, do that for now... big batteries... not little 450 cca jobbers. but if you're stuck working with that rear hatch area -- then ya you're better off with an ALT, i've never been a fan of batteries "up my butt" so to speak.

on a side note -- anyone wanna get me a 300 A at 2,000 RPM's alt for a 99 Ram 1500 (5.9L 360v8) to replace in the stock location with little alteration, then by all means, let me know where i can get ahold of it and how much rough cost.