I think that is very good advise. What amperage of 3G?
I have a 92 4x4 with a 5.8L Windsor.

 

95A is the common one and unless you're doing something unusual that's totally fine. I didn't intend for this to be a self-serving post, but I happen to be selling one here.... https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...lternator.html

 

I'm brand new to the site. I have been reading the threads for a few days. My alternator/wiring pigtail went up in flames several days ago. I took the advice of many here and went with a 3g upgrade. I purchased a 130 amp alternator new for a 95 Taurus 3.8. I made all of the suggested wiring and fuse suggestions however when I went to install the alt, the battery positive connection and pigtail connection were on the wrong side. They are located next to the bracket as opposed to the passenger side. Any suggestions? Also, I went with a 150 amp circuit breaker vs the fuse as it was only $30.

 

You need to re-clock the alternator housing. Re-clocking means to rotate the back portion in relation to the front of the alternator housing.

Found this on a Google search:

reclocking a 3G? - FFCars.com : Factory Five Racing Discussion Forum

 

I presume you have a 4.9, yes? Probably too late for you, but I'd say if purchasing new/rebuilt the easier option is to get the alternator for the '95 - '96 4.9, which will be a 3G and clocked correctly. This would also be the easy option if going the junkyard route except for two things that don't actually make it easy:
1) The 3G was only used for two years on the 4.9 F150 so there's not many to be found.
2) The lower through-bolt will fight you to come out, especially if it's the ~ 18 year-old original alternator. I had to give up on the only one I ever found - would have needed to pull the radiator and condenser and used a slide-hammer to remove the bolt.

Any way, note this comment from the above referenced page on re-clocking the alternator from the 3.8 ....
You can put a small pin or a straw from a spray can in a small hole of the regulator and the springs will not pop out.

I can't picture how that would work without the alternator in front of me. I'm thinking it would make sense if it was.

 

Thanks to all for the info. I purchased the Taurus alternator as recommnded on this forum. I was able to return it and buy and alternator for a 95 E150 and just swapped the pulleys. I was able to get the bottom bolt out. I bought a new bolt from the "help" line of parts. I discovered the threads are not cut down enough on the aftermarket bolt. I found out the hard way by splitting the aluminum bracket in back. I fixed it by spacing the bolt under the head and nutting it on the back. All-in-all, it works great. This forum was great! (except for the Taurus info). Thanks again!

 

One other thing...

I joined the two large wires from the 2G set-up and bolted them to the back of the 3G alt as suggested along with the 4 ga wire to the starter relay. The 4 ga wire is protected with the 150 breaker. Is this correct? It seems if the breaker trips, there is no protection for the other two wires.

 

You should have a plug for the alternator like this:



Connected to the alternator:



With the green wire ran here:



As far as cable and protection, I have 2 Gauge from the alt to a 175A fuse, then to the starter relay on the fender.

 

Thanks for the info. I retained the original plug with the three small wires.. I cut the plug off which suffered the meltdown, connected the two heavy gauge wires to a ring terminal connector and added this to the stud on the back of the 3g alternator in conjunction with the new 6 gauge wire, I then placed the smaller wire into the single stator connection on the new alt using a female spade terminal. Rather than run a jumper from the center of the plug with the three small wires to the single stator connection on the new alt, I just let the factory harness do it for me.

 

Spring ahead several years, I finally got around to updating my 2G alternator to 3G on the 4.9. I had 3G's junkyard-pulled from both a 3.8 Taurus and '95 F-150 4.9. I opted for the easy route of using the one from the F-150 donor rather than re-clocking the one from the 3.8. It went right into the original '91 bracket using the fasteners from the '95. I also grabbed the alternator sub-harness from the donor '95 F-150, which made installation a plug-n-play breeze.

The only minor hiccup was that the 805 length belt I was previously using was now a bit too short. I had a 835 handy, which worked but is too long to be optimal. I'd say 825 is about right. That's with no A/C, removed AIR pump, and Saginaw Pwr Steering pump (which added a bit to the length requirement).

Lastly, I had read about some people having bracket/belt contact issues, but I had none. Perhaps that was with some other combination of parts?