Ok what do you think. I went to the junkyard yesterday to get my v-belt stuff. I what to get a new alternator. i would like to just have one wire on it can a get a remanufatored alternator and just run one wire off of it to the battery. and if i can't i was looking at a alternator in JC Whitney part # wx268285. The origanal alternator has dual belts, will i have to keep that. and why is the dual belts needed.

Thanks for all the help

Daniel

 

"One wire" alternators are easier to hook up but don't charge as well as a stock multi wire setup. They have no way of directly measuring the true battery/ system voltage so rely on RPM to decide when to charge or not. At low/ idle RPM they often charge little or not at all which leads to dim flickering headlights, gauges not reading properly, and an undercharged battery. Conversely, at sustained high RPM [think freeway driving] they sometimes keep on charging once the battery is "full" which leads to shorter battery life. Stick to a stock type alternator, it will be cheaper and more reliable in the long run. Unless you're running gobs of lights or a big stereo, a stock 60 to 70 amp alternator will do just fine. Hit your local parts store [O'reilly / NAPA/ Advance] for an alternator instead of going mail order. Most have lifetime warranty rebuilds pretty cheap, and you can swap out a dead unit same-day instead of being stuck waiting a week for UPS to bring a replacement.

As to the dual belts, the only time it's really necessary is if you're running a high amp alternator under very heavy loads. Any stock alternator under 100 amps will run fine off a single belt, just use the rear position closest to the alternator body to minimize torque on the front bearing. The exception to this is if there's another accessory [say a smog pump] that relies on that second [front] pulley groove to route it's belt. My van came with a dual pulley alternator but only one belt driving it... I've seen this with lots of different Ford setups.