I have a 97 ES. I love car audio. I have a US Amps 2000X and a US Amps 4300X, together these draw a max of about 330 Amps. Im getting my alternator rewound (sending it out tomorrow) from a guy who does it for a lot of car audio guys. Its getting rewound to 180 ams max and 100 at idle. Other than upgrading the gauge of the wire from battery to ground and alternator to battery everthing else should just beable to plug back in and work ok right? I'm also getting an Optima Yellow Top to have good reserve capacity. Thanks Anything else I should know?

 

Nice amps. It should plug right back in other than upgrading the power and ground wires like you said.

 

There are two power cables that go to the battery directly: 1) starter, and 2) main fusible link. The latter in which the alternator cable is run to. So the alternator cable does not go to the battery, though you can bypass the fusible link, and run it direct with an inline fuse for protection. Likewise, there are 2 ground cables to the battery: 1) chassis (under the battery tray), and 2) engine block; both can be traced and switched out.

 

since the stock alt is only 80 amps, my guess is that fuseable link is about 100. I was thinking I would just run another wire from the + batt to alt and keep the stock one in too. I will replace it with 0 Gauge and use a 150 amp fuse or something like that...sound ok? I don't need to replace the starter wire do I? Just the block, batt, and alt wires right? Thanks

 

Well, if you keep the stock alternator wire to the 100-amp fusible link, that will probably overload the fuse, even with a 0-gauge direct connect. First, you won't know which wire would carry how much current from the alternator since the current will be split. Second, you don't want to have two AC (alternating current) waves that could pick up spikes to supply the Optima, which may not like it too much. I recommend just disconnect the stock wire completely, and run a 200-amp fuse to protect the battery from shorting out in case the 0-gauge becomes disconnected and hits ground (alternator case, for example). If you are adding new terminals, you will need to rerun new cable to the starter also since stock wire will NOT reach. Extension would work, but over time, you may see corrosion appear, which indicates unclean connections. Lastly, as a general rule, always supply a fuse that is 10% over the ratings, for protection purposes.

 

i have talked to a few people ( local electircal rebuilders in toronto )
with them saying the stock alternator cannot fit anymore windings than 10-15 amps
i really have no idea how someone can get that without changing the body itself
when you get it back get it bench tested to see how much it will actually put out
i am not doubting you
just curious as to the practice of the shop and maybe there methods