Maximising the performance of the stock alternator (1 Viewer)

[fogblanket]

yeah I have my dual battery wiring routed in front of the radiator. I am thinking of just running the extra alt wire together with the aux bat cable in a 5/8 section of hose for protection.
thanks Jason

 

[Skilter]

Was there ever any pics of this posted?

 

[iichart]

HI, I am having some problems with my charging system on my 87 fj60. My ac is droping out and my turn signls both come on turn off raido or somthing ac kicks back on. I thought alt problem but after readin this post it has me thinking Looks to be an after mkt alt and is puttimg out about 13 volts at 1000rpm and 11 to 12 at idle. Went to local toyota dealer to price new OEM alt and they wanted to know if i needed a 40 or 50 amp alt?? Now I am wondering if alt is good and somthing else is going on.

 

[CardinalFJ60]

Maybe check the VR

Before replacing the alt, maybe check or replce the voltage regulator? I had some goofy voltage drops and after chaging to Dearborn's batt cables (Very nice product), it was a little better. But not right. I put in a new VR, it's much better.

just a thought.

 

[Moby]

Pimp,

Glad to hear that you like how Connie's 62 has turned out. I'm helping my sis make a similar upgrade to her 62. I got her off on the right foot for x-mas with some e-code low/high lamps, but stuck with the stock 55/65 watt bulbs because I hadn't found the right harness yet.

You mention in a thread in the FAQ that you got your harness from Wayne Tangen...does he sell them still? Not sure that I want to make one, though the instructions/diagram look pretty straightforward.

Thanks for your help.

I scratch built my headlight wiring harness for my '62 before I knew about Wayne's diagram. Mine came out pretty much the same. The trick is figuring out how to work around the ground switching and getting the highbeam indicator light to continue to work. Not nearly as straightforward as a 60 but Wayne's diagram has all this worked out (at least from looking at the circuits and comparing it to mine). I run Bosch H4s with 70 watt bulbs and Hella H1s with standard wattage bulbs. Doing the wiring harness made a huge difference.

I'm in Seattle and I'd let you look at mine but I'm taking the truck down to Over the Hill tomorrow for my engine rebuild

 

[lovetoski]

HI, I am having some problems with my charging system on my 87 fj60. My ac is droping out and my turn signls both come on turn off raido or somthing ac kicks back on. I thought alt problem but after readin this post it has me thinking Looks to be an after mkt alt and is puttimg out about 13 volts at 1000rpm and 11 to 12 at idle. Went to local toyota dealer to price new OEM alt and they wanted to know if i needed a 40 or 50 amp alt?? Now I am wondering if alt is good and somthing else is going on.

The stock alt puts out less volts at idle...your numbers sound correct. There is an "idle-up" adjust for when the AC comes on - I think it's a blue twist knob under the glove box.

 

[sandcruiser]

I didn't have any large fuse holders sitting around, so I went with a 10ga wire and two 30 amp fuses...

I figure that stock wire should be carrying *some* of the load

Anyhow, I gained .5 volts at the fuse box. That's a pretty nice step up for a $5 upgrade.

If/when I get a maxi fuse holder, I may add a larger wire, maybe 8ga or 6 ga. I'm not convinced that going all the way up to 2ga is worth it.... according to this voltage calculater http://genuinedealz.com/voltage-drop.html
you should see less than .2 v drop at 60 amps, 5 ft, 6ga wire.

My alt doesn't put out 60 amps. And it is only a foot of 4ga wire going to my aux fuse box, from which my high-amp loads come off...

but even with just a 10ga wire, there is an improvment.

 

[Mike S]

Doug

You can also rewind the alternator and get significantly more amps from the same unit without foolig with mounting a replacement. Most alternator shops can do this. Mine told me I could go to about 90 AMps at 1000 rpm. I never really needed to do this, but it is a good idea and costs about $100 or less.

Mike S

 

[Moby]

Northwest Power Products is building me an 175 amp unit based on a stock case for my FJ-62. I asked them for as much idle output as they could get (I run an electric cooling fan) and they said it should do significantly better then stock. When I get the truck back up and running (it's getting a new engine) I'll post up how it does.

 

[HZJ60 Guy]

I wonder if they'd make me a high amp 24 volt alternator?

 

[Moby]

Give them a call and ask for Stan. He was very helpful. Went and checked with the techs a couple of times as we discussed options. They even dropped the new alternator off at Over the Hill 4x4 (my truck is getting an engine rebuild) when it was done to save me shipping.

http://www.wranglernw.com/t-about_2.aspx

 

[FJ60 Dude]

sweeet....

i love finding out cool cheap tricks to improve vehicles...

gonna do the extra alternator wire for SURE. and i really like the idea of simply gettin the alternator re-wrapped instead of trying to spend coin on a new high output one.

gonna swap the headlights to these hellla H4's everyone talks about


and whats the deal with changing the wiring harness'

 

[lovetoski]

and whats the deal with changing the wiring harness'

An upgraded headlight wiring harness uses a relay, and heavier guage wiring from the battery to the bulbs. This reduces (essentially eliminates) voltage drop. On the stock system, you're lucky to get 12v @ the bulbs (compared to 14-14.5 at the battery when the engine is running). Light output is extremely sensitive to voltage. Lower volts = less light. The upgraded harness means you'll have full voltage at the bulbs, therefore maximising the light potential of the bulbs.

 

[fj4play]

so my rig has two batts should i run two cables from the alt. one for each batt,

 

[lovetoski]

I am still convinced that the direct wire from alt + post to the battery is a great mod. I have it in place on both alternators. I switched some things around under the hood, and changed to a different fuse block and thought I'd post the pics. I forgot to take a pic of the fuse block before install, but here's a link to one for sale on Amazon.

http://www.inverterservicecenter.com/Blue-Sea-5006?gclid=CJC7guf9qq4CFWYZQgodhXAljg

The alternator puts out 55 amps, and the electrical guys I talked to said to fuse it 20-25% over, so I went with a 70 amp fuse.

 

[RockDoc]

Definitely a worthwhile upgrade to run the heavy direct lead to the battery. I did it after seeing this thread years ago, I noticed a jump in system voltage, and better performance of electric stuff in the truck (heater fan, door locks, dash lights..). I've got a 100 Amp fuse (AMG I think) since I've got the 85 Amp 62 alt. Got a second fuse to add with a second alt too.


*edit* Just looked up my old post. The 4Ga lead I added boosted voltage to the battery while running by 0.7-0.8v

 

[lovetoski]

The 4Ga lead I added boosted voltage to the battery while running by 0.7-0.8v

Sounds like we had similar results. Cool.

 

[cruiserpilot]

This will help, I'll try to extra heavy lead to the battery. I've got a vacuum pump/alt so just cleaning up the system might be what i need, Thanks!!

 

[omy180sx]

i did this to day used my volt meter and it was better then before i'll see how it goes next time i drive to work with the lights wipers heater and i'm pumping my tunes last time i did this i had to roll start it cause i had drained my batt on a 45 min drive thats for the idea i had most of the bit only cost me $3.80 au i like mods that price