2001; aftermarket accessories are radio, intercooler pump and radiator fan from TheViperStore. Canadian car so low beam headlights are always on.
On a fully charged battery when I start & idle the car and check the voltage w/ a multi-meter I get 13.9 (intercooler pump and dtrl are always on w/ key on).
If I turn on maximum headlights, hvac, radio, etc (i.e., all accessories) it's like 13.8.
If I turn off the accessories, when the low speed fan comes on it holds 13.8 indefinately.
When the high speed fan comes on, it quickly drops to 12.6. If I rev to around 1,500 rpm it immediately jumps up and holds 13.5 indefinately (as long as I keep the RPMs up, immediately drops to 12.6 when I left off the gas).
I tried replacing the alternator to see if it was just getting old but the readings didn't change.
From the service manual it looks like it goes 2ga wire from the battery to the starter, then branches off to the alternator as a 6ga wire.
Would I benefit from changing the 6ga wire to a 2ga wire (and replace the fusible link w/ a heavy duty inline 150amp circuit breaker) to try to get the voltage back up to the upper-13s? All the race cars I build I've always used 2ga wire for alternator, so I'm kinda surprised to see a 6ga wire for a car with accessories.
On a fully charged battery when I start & idle the car and check the voltage w/ a multi-meter I get 13.9 (intercooler pump and dtrl are always on w/ key on).
If I turn on maximum headlights, hvac, radio, etc (i.e., all accessories) it's like 13.8.
If I turn off the accessories, when the low speed fan comes on it holds 13.8 indefinately.
When the high speed fan comes on, it quickly drops to 12.6. If I rev to around 1,500 rpm it immediately jumps up and holds 13.5 indefinately (as long as I keep the RPMs up, immediately drops to 12.6 when I left off the gas).
I tried replacing the alternator to see if it was just getting old but the readings didn't change.
From the service manual it looks like it goes 2ga wire from the battery to the starter, then branches off to the alternator as a 6ga wire.
Would I benefit from changing the 6ga wire to a 2ga wire (and replace the fusible link w/ a heavy duty inline 150amp circuit breaker) to try to get the voltage back up to the upper-13s? All the race cars I build I've always used 2ga wire for alternator, so I'm kinda surprised to see a 6ga wire for a car with accessories.
