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problems with HO alternator

Printed From: the12volt.com
Forum Name: Car Audio
Forum Discription: Car Stereos, Amplifiers, Crossovers, Processors, Speakers, Subwoofers, etc.
URL: https://www.the12volt.com/installbay/forum_posts.asp?tid=55156
Printed Date: March 29, 2024 at 1:36 AM


Topic: problems with HO alternator

Posted By: supradude
Subject: problems with HO alternator
Date Posted: May 04, 2005 at 9:56 PM

I am fed up with the crowd from Alterstart. If you remember, I had problems before and sent it back. They said they fixed it and sent it to me and it was damaged. I sent it back again. They said they fixed it again and sent it back to me. Well now it's doing the same thing AGAIN! It only shows around 10.5 volts at idle speed. That is the same thing it was doing before.  This time I called Mechman and told them about my problems. They talked to me for a long time and explained why I am having the problem I have. Alterstart never even tried to talk to me and when they did talk they were very nasty. The reason I am telling everybody this is for their gain. My Toyota Supra alternator is too small to put the amount of copper wiring in it to work properly at low rpm's. It is simply impossible to get it to charge at 850 rpm's the way it should. Mechman uses a larger case for all of their Toyota high output alternators. They give you a special bracket and adaptor plug to make it work. Their alternator puts out 100 amps at idle and 240 at 2000 rpm's. (They have others also for my car.) Alterstart never told me any of this. (I doubt they know.) There is no way to increase the rpm's on my car, so I am going to have to hunt a smaller pulley to try to get it to halfway work for me until I can afford another one from Mechman or Dominick. I hope that this will help others to ask around and buy from the people that KNOW what they are doing and not just out to sell you a piece of crap that you will be stuck with.                                         

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'85 Toy



Replies:

Posted By: Alpine Guy
Date Posted: May 04, 2005 at 10:38 PM
dun dun dun.....now everyone will clue in to why i have been pushing mechman haha  Sorry to hear about your problems tho, what are your options? They wont give a refund will they?

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2003 Chevy Avalanche,Eclipse CD7000,Morel Elate 5,Adire Extremis,Alpine PDX-4.150, 15" TC-3000, 2 Alpine PDX-1.1000, 470Amp HO Alt.




Posted By: Captanham
Date Posted: May 04, 2005 at 10:58 PM
yea i had the same problem on a guys dodge alt, crazy stuff, local guy tho, he keeps givin it back to me sayin it's fine, then i test it on a machiene and it's puttin out like 10.5 volts and doing NOTHING, somethin stupid like that,

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Bad Boys Customs
    audio - video - security

If you use it. Suport it. Donate to the 12 volt!




Posted By: Captanham
Date Posted: May 04, 2005 at 10:59 PM
alpine guy, can you give me contact info for the mechman stuff? site number or anything?

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Bad Boys Customs
    audio - video - security

If you use it. Suport it. Donate to the 12 volt!




Posted By: supradude
Date Posted: May 04, 2005 at 11:10 PM
www.mechman.com. 760-244-2049 for tech support.  i used dennis@mechman.com

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'85 Toy




Posted By: Alpine Guy
Date Posted: May 04, 2005 at 11:14 PM

If you go out and make up a business and get a business permit you can get a 25% discount also.



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2003 Chevy Avalanche,Eclipse CD7000,Morel Elate 5,Adire Extremis,Alpine PDX-4.150, 15" TC-3000, 2 Alpine PDX-1.1000, 470Amp HO Alt.




Posted By: haemphyst
Date Posted: May 05, 2005 at 6:23 AM
'dude, really sorry to hear about your problems with alterstart. I have used quite a few of their alternators, never with any problems. Never done any Toyotas, but the Honda (3), Ford (3), and GM (2) alternators I have installed have been top notch, with very good output all the way down to idle... (The 165A I bought for my '01 Civic does 55A hot, with a voltage of 13.8, and I know this, because I have an ammeter in the dash, and I have checked the voltage.)

I wish I had a suggestion for you on how to deal with them...

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It all reminds me of something that Molière once said to Guy de Maupassant at a café in Vienna: "That's nice. You should write it down."




Posted By: Master Asylum
Date Posted: May 05, 2005 at 8:47 AM

Alterstart can go **** themselves. Nuff said. I will be contacting Mechman and see what they think about this situation I have.

(I have a 98 Monte Carlo with a "180 amp" alternator that could do like 120 at best if my car was straining to death. Tested by someone that I'd say has enough know how to kill anyone at that horrible ass company. Man, I wish I woulda dealt somewhere else. Teach me to try and save on something like this. Not to mention their customer service is good awefully bad. If you have a problem with their product they take the worst attitude I've EVER seen, which is well, the opposite of how it should be handled.



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1998 Monte Carlo w/
Eclipse CD8454
2xRockford 5.25" Power 2-way T152C
2xRockford 6"x9" Punch 3-way FRC4369
1xMemphis 16-MCH1300 5-channel
2xKicker 12" L5 Solobaric-2 Ohm




Posted By: supradude
Date Posted: May 05, 2005 at 9:48 AM
I agree with you, Master Asylum. They are a bunch of ********* when you need help. I e-mailed them yesterday and asked them can they tell me where or how to get a smaller pulley for the one they sold me. Surely they know what else will fit, and also what is compatible and will work on mine. Their only answer was " Sorry, we furnish the smallest one we have when we ship it to you."  I need some advice. Does anybody know where I can get a smaller pulley?

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'85 Toy




Posted By: Masta N
Date Posted: May 05, 2005 at 10:03 AM
It has been my experience that most HO alternators only produce their full output @ 1000RPM's or more. At idle they produce less voltage as well as aperage than stock alts...much like underdrive pulleys, but without the performance gain.

Hope this helps




Posted By: supradude
Date Posted: May 05, 2005 at 5:38 PM
I'm sure somebody has needed a smaller pulley and ordered one from somewhere. Help!!!

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'85 Toy




Posted By: racer427
Date Posted: May 05, 2005 at 6:29 PM

Try looking for *Underdrive* pulley's here https://www.summitracing.com

They might have what you are looking for.

Chris



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Alpine CDA-9833 HU
Diamond Audio M661 Components
MTX Thunder T6.6 Components:rear fill:
Cadence Q400 4 Channel Mains + rears
Thunder 801D Subs
MTX 1004 10's
Dual 4g wire to rear
4g grounds




Posted By: geepherder
Date Posted: May 05, 2005 at 8:31 PM
Actually, Chris, he needs a smaller pulley, which would be the opposite of an underdrive pulley- along the lines of an "overdrive" pulley.  Since the pulley would be spinning faster in relation to stock, it'd be robbing more torque and hp from the engine.

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My ex once told me I have a perfect face for radio.




Posted By: Captanham
Date Posted: May 05, 2005 at 8:46 PM

underdrive pullies are larger, they would not work properly, it would have the opposite effect,, if you cannot find one, maybe a machine shop could mill it down (i'm not really sure if that's possible but you could try)

or you can just measure the paramiters, go threw a junk yard and find one, and rig it up to the alt yourself



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Bad Boys Customs
    audio - video - security

If you use it. Suport it. Donate to the 12 volt!




Posted By: supradude
Date Posted: May 06, 2005 at 7:32 PM
Since I'm having a hard time finding a pulley, can anybody tell me how to get more rpm's at idle? There's no adjustment screws but I should be able to do it another way. 

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'85 Toy




Posted By: geepherder
Date Posted: May 06, 2005 at 10:20 PM
You can try tightening the throttle cable under the hood- that should bring up the idle speed.  Be aware though, when you do this you can sometimes get an annoying rough idle (varies up and down) like you would with a vacuum leak.

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My ex once told me I have a perfect face for radio.




Posted By: supradude
Date Posted: May 24, 2005 at 5:18 PM
Just to inform everybody: The alternator I had trouble with from alterstart has died again. If you remember, I sent it back and they said they repaired it, but when I got it the pulley was broken. So I had to send it back again. They said they repaired the "stator" in it. It wasn't charging at idle. Well, it's doing the same thing again. This time its so bad the car won't even idle. When it tries to idle it just cuts off completely. I put the factory one back on again and it runs fine. I am through with that crowd for good, warranty on not. I will just eat the cost and buy another on from them. HA!! I'm not that stupid. I'll get one from Dominick this time and be done with it. Just wanting to let people know so they don't make the mistake I made.

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'85 Toy




Posted By: racer427
Date Posted: May 24, 2005 at 5:31 PM
Hell, where was my brain when I posted that. Uhg. Looking for overdrive pulleys not underdrive pulleys. posted_image

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Alpine CDA-9833 HU
Diamond Audio M661 Components
MTX Thunder T6.6 Components:rear fill:
Cadence Q400 4 Channel Mains + rears
Thunder 801D Subs
MTX 1004 10's
Dual 4g wire to rear
4g grounds




Posted By: supradude
Date Posted: May 25, 2005 at 5:50 PM
OK, I took my alterstart HO alternator to a local rebuild shop today. I refuse to deal with them ever again. I have used this shop several times in the past, but they usually only work with stock units. I explained my problem to them and they put it on the testing machine and found exactly what I had been telling alterstart all along. It is putting out absolutely (0) and normal speed. When revving it up it shows proper output. They told me it is more than likely the stator. This is the same thing they claimed to have fixed a few months ago. I asked about a smaller pulley and they said it wouldn't help any in my case. They are going to call around and see if they can find parts and repair it for me. They also said it's normal to lose some output at low rpm's in order to get high output at high rpm's, but mine is doing nothing. Lesson learning can be costly! 

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'85 Toy




Posted By: Alpine Guy
Date Posted: May 25, 2005 at 7:29 PM
Alterstart is basically the pyramid/legacy of alternators i guess.

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2003 Chevy Avalanche,Eclipse CD7000,Morel Elate 5,Adire Extremis,Alpine PDX-4.150, 15" TC-3000, 2 Alpine PDX-1.1000, 470Amp HO Alt.




Posted By: jeffchilcott
Date Posted: May 25, 2005 at 7:36 PM
I swear I told you to go with Dommonick months ago, then again after you had problems the first time.     Maybe next time you will listen jerk!   haha Just Kidding.   I am really sorry you have had nothing but bad trouble with your alternator, but I had a feeling it would turn out this way after hearing other pople in the USACi curcuit complain of them.      You do have your backup of domonick still waiting if you cant get it working for good from your local shop,    or OHIO generators will rebuild other peoples Fudge up's      let me know if you need anything, names numbers ect

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2009 0-1000 Trunk WR 154.0DB 2009 1001+ Trunk WR
2007 USACI World Champion
2007 World Record
2006 USACI Finals 2nd Place




Posted By: supradude
Date Posted: June 03, 2005 at 8:51 PM
I got my alternator back yesterday. The local rebuild shop had to replace the rotor in it. They said the gap between the rotor and the stator was too big, and that is what was causing it not to charge at low rpm's. They also said that the people that built it originally (alterstart) had to have known this. It is back on my car and working perfectly now. It cost me $55 dollars, but at least I can use it now. Hopefully I'm through with this problem. Now on to other problems.

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'85 Toy





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