some anoying issues....

[D323]

cars do not need the battery to run.

they need them to start. And after starting the alternator charges the battery back and provides the current for the car to run off of like 323driver said.

No running your car w/o the battery wont kill your alternator. Your alternator does not draw power from the battery while the car is running.

If you have a bad alternator you can test it by starting the car, then pulling the battery leads. if the car dies your alternator is crap.

[Chad]

hmm - of course your alternator does not draw power - it produces it - but it does not produce it constantly - it produces it when the battery is in need - an alternator is designed to kick on - when teh battery needs juice
so if you run the car with no battery
guess what your alternator is ****ting itself - prodcuing constantly

[lscrx]

cars do not need the battery to run.

they need them to start. And after starting the alternator charges the battery back and provides the current for the car to run off of like 323driver said.

No running your car w/o the battery wont kill your alternator. Your alternator does not draw power from the battery while the car is running.

If you have a bad alternator you can test it by starting the car, then pulling the battery leads. if the car dies your alternator is crap.

That's exactly what I was about to say... I didn't have jumper-cables once and just put my friends Integra battery in my CRX, started the car... then switched batteries again. My battery was dead as a door-knob and it ran just fine after being started with a good battery.
Now if you are drawing more amps then your alternator can supply you will drain your battery... but you'd need a big sound system or a whole ****load of lights and a George Forman grill to do that

Protege/323's have puny little alternators, like 60 or 65amps... that's why you're not supposed to operate all four windows at the same time

[D323]

look in the audio section. There were some links to some aftermarket alternators. I plan on getting a 200 amp one and what not..... the 65 amps is too small IMO.

Yes the alternator is constantly producing power thats how they are designed...... If it didnt and the battery was removed what would keep the ECU running? The alternator is belt driven by the crank for this reason. Constant power is produced and put into the system. Some to power the car and the rest to recharge your battery.

This is why battery manufactures say quick trips are hard on cars. B/c the alt doesnt have enough time to replace the juice used by the battery to start the motor if it is ran for 5-10 mins or so.

[Gro Harlem]

u can adapt a MX3/probe/626/mx6 alternator to work...its 90amps (from the v6 models

also, there is a 110amp version that comes in teh millenias

[D323]

darryl has a how-to on his site.

good write up for anyone interested.

http://www.mazdaracer.wihandyman.com/V6ALT.html