3g alternator swap complete

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3g alternator swap complete

September 12, 2005, 09:17:03 PM

today, i went to the junkyard, and pulled a 130amp alternator from a 96 Sable (had to double check part numbers, i lucked out when i got this one, sables of that year came standard ith a 110, this one is an optional 130)

i went over to NATO (turbotbird.com) and followed the directions to the letter, and it went pretty smoothly

the results are amazing, if i had my car running, lights on, and my heat on, i would hit the brakes and the car would stumble for a second, my e-fan would come on, and the car would stumble

now, the lights are brighter than ever, the slights barely flicker when EVERYTHING is on, and it actually runs more smoothly at lower RPMs, id suggest this swap to anyone

the alternator cost me 20 bucks at the yard, and i spent maybe 10 bucks on crimp connectors, and wire

Re: 3g alternator swap complete

Reply #1 – September 13, 2005, 01:52:00 AM

got to love the 3g's

Re: 3g alternator swap complete

Reply #2 – September 13, 2005, 09:16:33 AM

Shawn-
As mentioned, you may want to look into upping that wire gauge. 10ga is kind of skimpy for a 130A output alternator.

Re: 3g alternator swap complete

Reply #3 – September 13, 2005, 10:02:06 AM

its actually three 10ga wires, i did the wiring according to Jeff K's article, seeing as many people did it with no problems, and he used the three 10ga wires to dump the juice into different parts of the harness, rather than overloading this big splice and overloading the amp gauge

basically, one wire goes to the original power output wire, one goes over to the selenoid, and one goes to the feed to the rest of the car i believe

Re: 3g alternator swap complete

Reply #4 – September 13, 2005, 10:14:27 AM

A 130A 3G needs a minimum of 8G wire (preferably 4G or thicker if possible) to be safe. I do not trust reusing the 2 black/orange factory wires at all for the 3G; they're barely good enough for the stock alternator, and you know how that harness loves to catch fire. It's better to bypass the stock wiring and run your own the whole way.

There should be one wire from the big red post on the back of the 3G alternator over to a circuit breaker (just before the starter solenoid), then a short jumper wire from the circuit breaker to the solenoid. You should have a minimum of a 150A circuit breaker; I think it was about $20-30 at the stereo shop. That is the safest and smartest way to run it.

Doing it that way, the theory is that if something happens to the alternator--say a diode gets stuck and it's overcharging as you drive--the circuit breaker will kick out, saving the car from electrical damage before the surge hits the starter solenoid. On my circuit breaker, there's a little lever that will just pop out. Once you realize what's happened, you can pop the hood, push the lever back in, you're good to go until it trips again. Very nice, very safe, very convenient, and you don't even get your hands dirty. Imagine what a power surge from the alternator will do to all those fusible links at the solenoid...not to mention the rest of the car...

Re: 3g alternator swap complete

Reply #5 – September 13, 2005, 11:22:53 AM

http://www.turbotbird.com/techinfo/3G%20Alternator/G3%20Alternator%20Install.htm

those are the directions i followed, in it, its explained why the use of the three 10ga wires

from what Jeff K explained, that running just an 4-8 gauge wire over to the selenoid can actually overload the circuit and cause a fire

i DID NOT use a single 10 gauge wire, i used three 10 gauge wires from the output stud, and ran one to the selenoid, one to the original output wire, and one to the feed for the rest of the car, so the entire output isnt going through one 10 gauge wire

doing that also preserves the usage of the amp gauge (when it actually works)

read through the page i linked, it may clear things up better than im able to

Re: 3g alternator swap complete

Reply #6 – September 13, 2005, 11:26:16 AM

also, i neat tid-bit, the later model contours and similar cars come factory with a 175a fuse and holder, made by littlefuse

Re: 3g alternator swap complete

Reply #7 – September 13, 2005, 11:50:17 AM

For the turbo-4 that seems to be okay then. I wouldn't ever recommend that for a 5.0 though. I keep forgetting the 4-banger has the alternator on the wrong side of the engine.

Re: 3g alternator swap complete

Reply #8 – September 13, 2005, 11:54:54 AM

yeah, on a 5.0 car, the 4-8gauge wire works fine, but the turbo4 has a lot more electrical junkpiles in it to feed

Re: 3g alternator swap complete

Reply #9 – September 13, 2005, 06:31:55 PM

Did a 3g 200amp HO alt in my 5.0 converted TC and i run two pieces of 4 gauge side by side,one to the solenoid and one to the harness splice.
Wire never even gets warm with everything on.

Re: 3g alternator swap complete

Reply #10 – September 13, 2005, 07:32:02 PM

I ran a six gauge to the solenoid and also installed a ring terminal onto the black/orange ten gauge wire (I cut the plug off). Never had a problem. Don't antite having any, either.

Re: 3g alternator swap complete

Reply #11 – September 13, 2005, 10:13:47 PM

Heh.. I'm in the two-10ga.-wire club (plus the original wire) w/ the swap I did on the 3.8.. but that's a 95A I used:

(battery on the wrong side helps)