Well guys my TSTE was having some issue since I bought it from TWalt with idle surge, gas mileage (20MPG Highway), irregular firing(almost like a misfire) when throttle was just cracked open while driving in traffic, slow sounding PMIII pump when lights on or fans on in hot weather, dash lights dimming when brake lights on, etc.
I just figured with some of the dimming issues it was the battery getting older because it has a brand new Alt on it.
Well the other day my wife was driving home and saw the batt light on on the dash. She immediately told me it was on and I thought the alt died. Well when pulling the alt bracket it arced over on the intake. First thought was "dumb fuck" should have disconnected the bat terminal. Second thought "how the fuck did that happen it has a boot over the B+ terminal!" Yes I get nasty mouthed when an electrical arc happens in my face!! :lol:
Well I found the battery charge cable from the alternator had broken off the loop to mount it to the terminal! :shock: I looked at it further and who-ever soldered this thing at the factory filled the loop with solder but the wires....!!! 4 of them !!! were NOT connected to the solder nor did it look they had ever been. The rest did not even have tinning on them like they had been soldered to begin with. The stuff they used looks more like high temp brazing than solder..but you could clearly see it did not make a full contact with any more then 4 maybe 5 wires in the 10 gauge strand wire going over to supply power from the alternator!!!
How to test? Good question. The wires from the outside of the connector did not look in disarray when I replaced the alternator 5 months ago. I would think if you grabbed the shaft of the connector and the wire right at the connector and twisted it? Twist it and if it gives free then they did not get good penetraction of solder/brazing. If it holds...then maybe you have plenty soldered to give good continuity for a full charge.
Mind you...I always have 14.7Vdc at the battery when it was idling. It is a current issue not a volt issue. The less gauge wire you have or the hotter the wire gets the higher the resistance gets and the higher draw of current you draw in the wire.
Just figured I would give all a heads up cause who knows...maybe a defect in the wiring from the factory 15 years ago nobody noticed or complained about!! :wink: 8)
I have had worse than that. My ring terminal melted off the post and welded off a chunk of the alt. chassis! The car died on the road but got lucky and got it back together to work again. If it is getting hot enough to melt the solder that could explain it. You should not use the stock charge wire at all. Put shrink wrap on the ring and tuck it down. Run a 4 ga. wire and a circuit breaker to the aux. post and redo all grounds. it gets hot when there is a lot of current draw and nowhere to go. Hope this helps.
dude, gimmie a pic of were/what that looks like on the alt, cause i have my antilock light on, not for a PMIII reason, but i think electrical scince i washed my engine, and i have the dimming of dash, and interior lights when i plug in anything to the cig lighter or the brakes, its strange, im gonna look into this, i hope thats the problem, how would u recomend fixing it? like re soder it?
I had my alternator wire distroy the ring on my beretta after I had intalled a sub system. I think the wire is of pooor quality. Now looking at the TGP..that thing sucks up more current than any car I know. Even my 87 TC which used to eat the OE alternator every month (better alt solved it). The PMIII brake pump shure doen't help either.
For one..I think the TGP needs a battery of no less than 850 Cold cranking amps, the other is thicker wiring for the distrubution wire and thicker alternator wire...even a high amp alternator.
Could also need more ground straps from chassi to engine.
Imagine..driving at night having both fans on, AC on full blast, having all the map/curtisy lights on for some reason, listening to Mike jones on some 400w plus system, and then hitting the brakes on a wet road. And earlier that day you listened to the radio while washing/detaling your car. SOMETHING'S GANNA GIVE. And imagine this beeing your reutine every other night for the last 10 years!
Whats your take?