snowfox444

I just installed my high output alternator yesterday. car drove and ran perfectly with a little more get up. today we upgraded all the wires to 0 gauge. but the guy i have workin on it is a stubborn *** and i questioned his work because at some of the points he saudered the ring terminals to the wire instead of crimping. the car wont turn over and all u hear when turning the key is the starter whine. the battery is not dead and has plenty of juice. He used his meter to test the power output and the alternator is putting out 12.5 volts all the way to the inline fuse up to the positive terminal to the battery. I added an extra ground since it is a big 3 upgrade and originally there was only the positive wire from alt to bat and ground from engine to chassis. so we added another ground from negative bat to chassis / strut mount. What seems to be the issue? the battery has a good groound the terminals are tight. he did however screw the fuse block to the side of the fuse holder (the black box next to the battery) the screws were short so i doubt any damages to wires were done. he is a mechanic (works for meineke which is like a muffler/ brake shop)

onejapman

iTrader: (10)

check if your ecu is getting power look for a diagram online and find the power wire and get the tester and place the ground wire from the tester to the frame of the car and hookup the power to the tester. should read 12v-13v

00whiteek

I would check all of the ground wires to make sure they are all grounded. Maybe one came off or something while doing this. Just my 2 cents.

snowfox444

thanks. he had to take out the air unit to get to the alt. from the top. SO possibly that might have something to do with it?

good2go

iTrader: (6)

If your car ran fine before, and all you've done is upgrade your wire sizes, then it should be simply a matter or carefully rechecking what you've changed and what you've disturbed. It's probably something simple that's already been dismissed or has been overlooked.

btw, soldering is FAR superior to crimping!
and 0 gauge is ridiculous overkill for 99.9% of the cars out there.

onejapman

iTrader: (10)

ur car wont start if the intake sensor is unplugged,

snowfox444

we put back the stock wires and now it works fine. Not sure what heppened. he thinks I might need to go with a better battery because maybe the battery i have cant handle the load? its a crappy old acid battery adn what im upgrading to is a kinetik hc2000

snowfox444

any ideas what could have been the problem? because he is pissed off and wants to figure it out. we are going to retry this again once i get the battery. by the way, where is the engine ground wire? and is it grounded to the chassis originally?

good2go

iTrader: (6)

This is laughable. I think you need a new "mechanic".
What "load" is he possibly talking about?? Just because you increased the wire size, doesn't mean you suddenly increased the current flow!
btw...There is nothing wrong with "crappy old acid" batteries either.

There are multiple ground connection points. . . all over the car! Yes, the engine is definitely grounded to the chassis originally, did your guy remove it?? I hope your guy is sharp enough to put inline fuses to keep you from frying your electrical system or doing some impromptu welding in the case of an accident.

onejapman

iTrader: (10)

heres and advice, redo each wire one by one then test the car. ex:change one of the wires then start the car if it starts go to next wire, etc...........then ull find the problem

snowfox444

i put in a 200A high output alternator.. yes, there is an inline fuse for the positive power wire. & my thoughts exactly on the "find a new mechanic" because he s for one a stubborn *** 40 year old who thinks he knows everything when Im the one who schooled him on what a Big 3 upgrade was. I got so pissed at him because he wouldnt communicate with me or listen to a thing i had to say when he was going through the car trying to figure out what was wrong with it that I walked 10 miles home in the dark on a friday night lol good thing the only thing id have to worry about is drunk drivers deer and blisters on my feet. lol

HellFish

iTrader: (5)

what is a big 3 upgrade?

snowfox444

upgrading the 3 wires to the alternator to positive battery, engine ground to chassis & negative battery to chassis with 4 to 0 gauge wiring. Must have for anyone planning on running a powerful car audio system or anything taking a lot of power..

Kira X

iTrader: (24)

I might have to do this upgrade once I get a nicer system.