How to beef up your alternator wire Options

[lagos]

The factory alternator to battery wire is pretty thin gauge. This could cause lower alternator output if you have a lot of accessories in your car. One solution to this problem is to add another fused wire from the alternator to the battery, as well as extra grounds from the negative battery to the chasis and the engine. This should help maximize the alternators performance and reduce the chance of dimming lights and other electrical issues.

Here is what I did...

I got some 8gauge power wire. Some people recommend using 4-0 gauge, but I think thats a bit of an overkill.



Then I got some copper ring terminals for 3bucks from pepboys. Crimped and soldered the connection and finished off with heat shrink tubing.



I also picked up a 60amp fuse and holder.





Wrapped up the wiring in black plastic insulation and electrical tape. Made sure to route the wire away from anything hot in the engine bay, and made the install look as OEM as possible. I didn't want some random blue wire standing out in the engine bay.




Connected the fused wire up to the positive battery terminal



And its all done..



This post has been edited by lagos: Dec 15, 2008 - 5:41 PM

[Batman722]

Art, why did you use a 60a fuse ?