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  1. #1
    Member godless-phoenix's Avatar
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    Blackened fire chicken
    2000 Pontiac Trans Am WS6

    higher amp alternator

    i just bought a 160 amp alternator and ive heard that the higher amp alt. might not charge as well as the stock alt. at idle...my stocker has an overdrive (smaller diameter) pulley right now and it made a tiny difference with charging (but not much)....my question is do you think the higher amp alt. is fine by itself or should i switch the overdrive pulley on the high amp alt to possibly help with charging at idle...
    Last edited by godless-phoenix; 09-20-2013 at 08:25 PM.

  2. #2
    Member godless-phoenix's Avatar
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    Blackened fire chicken
    2000 Pontiac Trans Am WS6

    anyone wanna chime in with their 2 cents?

  3. #3
    Member Decadence75's Avatar
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    Bright Red
    2000 Trans Am

    I'm running a 145 amp and a 25% UD pulley with no issues. If it isn't charging properly it is likely a wiring issue. I would check the exciter wire to the alternator as this is what actually tells it to turn the charging cycle on and off. Another good idea is to do the Big3 upgrade which gets you situated with better wiring for the Alt & battery. Innovative Wiring makes kits for this if you don't want to go through the hassle of making all the cables yourself.

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  4. #4
    Member godless-phoenix's Avatar
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    Blackened fire chicken
    2000 Pontiac Trans Am WS6

    you mean overdrive alt pulley...if it was underdrive it would be a bigger pulley and rotate slower and cause charging issues for sure... im assuming you have an underdrive crank pulley with the overdrive alt pulley...i know its confusing sometimes i forget haha

    update: i went ahead and just put on the 160 amp alt with the smaller pulley and its working pretty good so far...

  5. #5
    Member Decadence75's Avatar
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    Bright Red
    2000 Trans Am

    I mean a 25% UD crank pulley. On the alternator I am running the pulley it came with. While an OD pulley on the alt would put it's revolutions back to where it was with stock, I personally don't think it is necessary. Even with the stock alternator and the UD crank pulley I never had any electrical issues. My alt just finally gave up the ghost a couple months back after 140K and having a PS pump leaking on it. I think you should be fine.

  6. #6
    Member godless-phoenix's Avatar
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    Blackened fire chicken
    2000 Pontiac Trans Am WS6

    yeah i think ill be fine too...seems like the overdrive alt. pulley is good for charging a little better at idle but thats about it.

  7. #7
    Member Decadence75's Avatar
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    Bright Red
    2000 Trans Am

    Quote Originally Posted by godless-phoenix View Post
    yeah i think ill be fine too...seems like the overdrive alt. pulley is good for charging a little better at idle but thats about it.
    That is it's entire purpose. To increase the charging to stock levels at idle so you don't notice a difference in the changes to the acc drive. The most common reason people put on an OD pulley for the alt is dimming or flickering headlights at a stoplight/stop sign. There was no actual issue charging unless they sat at idle for an extremely long time. Once you put a few rpms on the engine it no longer makes a difference.

  8. #8
    Member godless-phoenix's Avatar
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    Blackened fire chicken
    2000 Pontiac Trans Am WS6

    oh yeah, ive had the "strobe light" issue before haha...new alternator took care of that for me

  9. #9
    Member godless-phoenix's Avatar
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    Blackened fire chicken
    2000 Pontiac Trans Am WS6

    btw the overdrive pulley makes the alternator sound like a little turbo haha

  10. #10
    Member Decadence75's Avatar
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    Bright Red
    2000 Trans Am

    Yea, you should be fine then. I would sill suggest the big3 upgrade however as it's just a good idea.

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