73 F100 240 I6...

OK, I have a dead alternator, but I want to know why??

Just in case it isn't coincedental.

OK I have driven the truck more than I have since I got it and rebuilt the engine. It has sat for days, and even a couple weeks at the tme and never had the first trouble starting up, always peppy.

Everything in the engine compartment (including most wiring) is new since the rebuild in the August time frame; with the exception of the alternator, battery and voltage regulator. Meaning new Starter and remote selenoid close to the battery as well.

I have also recently wired up a very simple stereo system which is one reason I am concerned that there is a problem becuase it has acted funny the past couple of days. The system consists of a 100 watt rockford fosgate amp behind my seat connected to door speakers. There is a fused link directly to the battery terminal and the ground is about a foot long bolted directly to the cab of the truck with the starlike washers that have dug into the metal (and I did remmeber to scrape some paint off the contacting surface for the ground). The remote-on lead was well spliced and even soldered into hot radio wire. The amp is only hooked into a portable CD player I am using since I wanted to keep the original AM radio in place.

I noticed the other day that if the lights were not on the sound sould cut out intermittently and if I turnied the lights on, the sound would never give me a problem.

Then today I noticed the truck didn't turn over wuite as peppily as it usually does, but I thought it may have also ben because of the colder weather ofter the rain last night.

Well I am about a 2 miles from work this morning and the sound quit working altogether with the lights on, and with the CD player still playing of course.

Then about a mile later the truck dies and no more juice. I just put a new battery in it, becasue I wasn't in much of a position to do much else. With the truck running I removed the negative cable and sure it enough it dies.

In adition to the stero problems, my blower motor whnes and makes some noise until it gets warmed up.

My question is, did the stereo or maybe even extra drain on the blower motor ruin my alternator? Or was this coincidental???

I'm not sure what the amperage is on my alternator is, but I would think that a 100 watt amp wouldn't hurt anything. it appears that 61 amp is the standard new, but I know the alternator in my tbird is 110 amps.... Seems that 61 amp is kinda whimpy...

Am I overpowering it???

Thank guys

 

I'd think its a coincedence, unless you shorted something during the install

a 100W amp isn't that much drain, and I don't think you were running at full volume

 

That's what I am hoping, but I am also interested how I know if the voltage reguator is also bad....

 

I'd prolly try swapping out the voltage regulator first, I think your parts store can test it

 

Would a bad regulator keep it from running with battery disconnected, or would the bad regulator just have fried the alternator???

Thanks!

 

I believe a bad regulator could do either, if its not feeding the field the alternator ain't making juice. I don't think they usually kill the alternator, but it is possible