high performance alternator or not????

[bumpin2000gagt]

i have asked this on other forums and never received a solid answer. i was wondering if a high performance alternator hurts engine performance in any way. any loss of hp/torque? even the slightest loss i would like to know. also, i have the ffp underdrive pulley too. would they kind of work against eachother or with each other. thanks!

[Xidion]

no it dosent.:eek:

[matts]

it shouldn't affect horsepower any, but that underdrive pulley might kind of contradict the alt. unless the underdrive pulley got smaller. if it's a bigger pulley, which it should be for underdrive, you're slowing the alt. down. JMILLS has this problem. he just installed a 160 amp alt. with a underdrive pulley and it's running like 11.8 volts idling. once you get it spinning it should go back to normal volts, but in town driving isn't good with an underdrive pulley on your alt. i dont think. :)

so it shouldn't hurt performance, but i PERSONALLY wouldn't use the underdrive pulley

[bumpin2000gagt]

how bad is it in town? any ideas? i look into every possible detail before buying anything at all, especially for the car. thanks! :)

[matts]

well in town you have stop and go traffic. and when you've got your system up it's putting a strain on the electical system. i want my altenator doing it's job while i'm idling, not have to sit there and hold my foot on the gas just so my car wont die. i think a high output altenator is a good thing, but i just dont care for the underdrive pulley on it. i wouldn't want it on my water pump either. then you're slowing down water flow.....which could be even more disasterous than the altenator. you're not going to hurt anything with one on the crank though. :)

[03xGAxSE]

im tired so i may not be thinking correctly, but wouldent one on the crank be equal to have them on both the alt and water pump?

[bumpin2000gagt]

Originally posted by 03xGAxSE
im tired so i may not be thinking correctly, but wouldent one on the crank be equal to have them on both the alt and water pump?

that's an awesome question, anyone know?

[Xidion]

Thats why you get the Alt. Get the under drive pullys and 1-2 capacitors.

[matts]

well kind of. you're going to slow the alt down a little, but nothing like when you put a big ass pulley on the alt itself. :) and they sell kits that you put underdrive pullies on the crank, water pump, AND altenator

[JMILLS]

Well here the most recent answer... No problems at all! The only thing I notice is in the actual numbers, after the tensioner adjusted I am now at 12.5V @ 100RPM 14.5 @ 2000 RPM. I have a 1.0 Farad cap and I have noticed no side effects at all. I have a 160AMP Alternator from Motor City Remanufacting and the AEM Underdrive pulley. Feel free to PM me if you have any more ?'s

http://www.ctel.net/~jmills/Alts.jpg

[syclonedave]

Any output alt. will load down the motor only as much as all the stuff u got turned on. A bigger alt has the ability to off-set more amps of load & will draw that much more power from the engine.


larger pulley(s) might cause abnormaly low voltage @ idle.

[bumpin2000gagt]

thanks everyone, i think i'm gonna try to have both the under drive pulley and the high performance alt at the same time, i just may have to find me a 50 farad cap or so. :D