Alternator

[tomls]

Ok, a few months ago I got my Protege and love it... but... this weekend my new system will be going in. As is, my lights dim a bit by even rolling down one window. Does anyone know where/if i can get a high amp alternator for the protege? (stock is 70amps)

~Tom

[MisterT]

Ok, a few months ago I got my Protege and love it... but... this weekend my new system will be going in. As is, my lights dim a bit by even rolling down one window. Does anyone know where/if i can get a high amp alternator for the protege? (stock is 70amps)

~Tom

I upgraded to a bigger battery and got a groundkit for all of the electronics in my vehicle and the lights still will dim. The main problem is with the ECU. The ECU I believe "regulates" the amount of voltage coming from the alternator. I know of a couple of people (including the moderator of the audio section Blue LEDz) who have had larger ones put in, but they were built and the ECU had to be unplugged from the beefier alternator. I have the stock alternator still and am running 900 watts rms from my stereo, and still lights will dim at high volumes. A fact of life for Protege owners. <---Headlights.

[blue LEDz]

Ok, a few months ago I got my Protege and love it... but... this weekend my new system will be going in. As is, my lights dim a bit by even rolling down one window. Does anyone know where/if i can get a high amp alternator for the protege? (stock is 70amps)

~Tom

do your lights dim while one is rolling down, or after the window is at the top or bottom and you hold the switch? the stock alt sucks bad, but it still works. i'm assuming you've got the 1.6L, as you've got an '00 LX. i've got a '99 LX, and i've run anywhere from 400 watts to 2800+ watts off my stock alternator. it's rated at 70 amps, but only puts out 63. yeah my lights dim a little, but it's not that bad. go to an auto parts store and have your battery load tested. the stock battery sucks, and could be going out on you. i killed mine in a few months after putting in my system. i would highly suggest getting a red top optima battery.

no, there is no high amp alternator for the protege's. i told my buddy to hold off on the custom built one for me. it's going to put out 160 amps at idle, and over 200 at 2k rpms. upgrading the alternator is the best solution to a weak charging system, as well as a good battery. but it's not all that feasible, since it has to be custom made. the 2.0L has more upgrade options, though.

having a good ground is the best way to reduce voltage drops. richard clark is going to be running a real world test to determine how well the chassis actually works for transfering the power. manville at JL audio claims that a cars chassis is only equivalent to 4 guage cable, so richard is going to test it. i'll be posting the results in the car audio section.

let me know if you have any other questions.

post in the audio section what you are getting for your system :p:

[tomls]

My lights dim when auctully rolling up or down any window in the car. Once in a while the while music is playing loud enough the headlights will dim. Alpine head unti 65w x 4 with Sony Xplod speakers. This weekend or during next week I'll be putting in my Audiobahn A8000t Amp 2 Audiobahn AWP212T 12 subs and an Audiobahn 1 Farad cap. with 0 gauge cable. Within the next two months 2 more subs and another amp will be added (same as above). Hence why I am worried about the alternator/battery issues.

~Tom

[blue LEDz]

have your battery load tested. sounds like it is going dead.

ditch the cap idea. use the search functions and type in capacitor and seach the audio section. i've posted a lot of info about them, and how worthless they are, until you've done the necessary upgrades to your electrical system.

i'm not a big audiobahn fan myself, but it's your car, so get what you like the amp is 800 watts, so 1600 total after you get a second one isn't bad at all. yeah the lights will dim a bit. nothing too bad. i've got 400 watts going to my components up front, and about 1500 going to the 18" sub in my trunk daily. upgrade your battery to a red top optima or exide orbital. very durable batteries with a reasonable reserve capacity and much higher CCA's.

after i get my alternator built, and i test it all out, i can have my friend make another one, if you are interested. it will be a direct replacement of your stock one, and the only difference is that you won't be able to use the factory harness going to the ECU, and you'll have to upgrade to 1/0 cable going from the battery to the alternator.

i'm also going to be doing some experimenting with the car's chassis. i'm going to order the cable and distribution block to ground under the car to thicker metal. i'm also going to try and see if there is a differnce when adding a 4 guage ground from the engine compartment to the trunk area. i'll be posting what i observe in the audio section.

i thought that amp you've got is rated 800 watts x 1 into 2 ohms. i was also under the impression that the subs were dual 4 ohm voice coil. that means that when you wire 2 of the subs together, the amp will see a 1, 4, or 16 ohm load, depending on how you wire them. if you have dual 2 ohm subs, or single 4 ohm subs, then they will work fine with the amp. but if you do have the dual 4 ohm subs, then it won't work very well

[MisterT]

ditch the cap idea. use the search functions and type in capacitor and seach the audio section. i've posted a lot of info about them, and how worthless they are, until you've done the necessary upgrades to your electrical system.

Yeah, I have a 1.5 farad cap and am running 900 watts RMS and my lights dim with or without the cap in place

[tomls]

Amp is 800 watt rms 1600 max. cap well i've seen what happens with and without keep telling a friend to get one b/c he cant turn his system loud in his truck otherwise lights and neons diim badly.

what type of eletrical upgrades are you talking about to the car?

[tomls]

oh yeh. have you looked into some Ford alternators to see if any of them fit the Protege? then see if they make a high amp model of that one?

[blue LEDz]

oh yeh. have you looked into some Ford alternators to see if any of them fit the Protege? then see if they make a high amp model of that one?

the one i'm going to be using is actually a ford alt casing. nothing is a direct fit, at least nothing my friend had at his shop.

with that amp, you'll be lucky to ever see much over 800 watts. their power ratings are a bit inflated.

a proper ground can usually take care of most of the problems. and don't take headlights dimming as a sign of problems. as long as the voltage stays close to 13 volts you're fine. and just to give you an idea, you'd need a .5 farad cap on each headlight and a diode to isolate it to prevent dimming. beyond that it they are worthless till you upgrade your alt.

[MisterT]

I have a 4 gauge groundkit, running 4 gauge wires to a power distributor, which 8 gauge goes from there to the two amps. I have a spiral cell battery and ran wires (4gauge) from the alternator to the fuse box and battery. Then of course the 1.5 farad stiffening cap which does little to nothing at all.

[tomls]

granted this isn't the audio section but, those amps power... http://www.cardomain.com/memberpage/464634/2 and it hits HARD.(friends car). Welp once I put the system in i'll see how much it draws and get the battery load test and have the eletrical system in the car checked out. i'm probly just a bit paranoid but i dont want anything messed up. as far as the ground kit. you talking about the ones i've seen on ebay that have the circle ring in the center wire holes and wires that come off of it attaching to different parts of the engine? (yes i'm still learning alot)

[blue LEDz]

don't worry, i know how much power the amp puts out, and i also have seen the tests proving that they are overrated and will only put out the rated rms power at 14.4 volts, but that's not always guaranteed. and to see that max # you'll need the highest voltage the amp can take, as it is the WLS rating (when lightning strikes).

you can make your own ground kit. i made mine for about $20 with 4 guage cable. gro harlem's how to link isn't working anymore but here's one for the msp.

as for systems, when you or your buddy puts something like this in his trunk, then we'll talk about hitting hard i give it 1500 watts daily, and 2500 for comps.