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Water pump fin count 6 or 8 for a/c trucks?

12K views 228 replies 8 participants last post by  Jeffy45 
Jeffy45 said:
This is interesting, that main AC wire in my fuse box gets hot. Hot enough to melt the plastic trim piece that the fuse box connects to. It was disco. When i got the vehicle. Still gets hot . I squeezed the female connector for a tighter fit on the spade, its real tight, still it gets hot. New compressor and all?????????????
Clamp on inductive ammeter and see how much current being pulled thru circuit 1st thing i'd do.
If the comp clutch is pulling too much juice,be sure the clutch ground is solid,put a jumper wire from clutch magnet ground to engine and see if amp demand goes down. It is likely the windings in clutch magnet are shorting and drawing more than normal current thru circuit.

If the clutch magnet is found to be culprit,replace compressor. If you were able to find a clutch magnet,it would likely be 1/3-1/2 what cost of compressor is.
 
daryl78powerwagon said:
I was going to redo all my grounds and add some. Going to change the ground from battery to radiator support, new cable to the head from batt, alt to frame, head to frame and vr bolt to head with 10 Gauge ground wires. Is the head where the battery is suppose to go? That's how it was when I got it.
The alternator is grounded to the engine by the brackets its bolted to. Only time you need to run a ground wire to the alternator is when running a mega amp alternator and the ground should be same size as output wire and run back to negative battery terminal.

Cylinder head is fine if you're referring to negative battery cable.
 
SuperBurban said:
Then why did just about every manufacturer go to a separate wire for the ground? Chrysler started in 88. Even the older 114 amp alt has a provision for a ground wire.
A ground wire from where to where? Worked for foreign and domestic brands during my time in the trade,Chrysler included for a stretch. I'll stand by my statement in previous post,i know of very few manufacturers that do a dedicated alternator housing to negative battery terminal of equal gauge as the alternator output wire.

Several makes of vehicles come with a ground wire from alternator mounting bolts to engine or body of vehicle when mounted on an aluminum bracket because electrolysis and corrosion lead to sketchy alternator grounds long term. 94 and on Dodge trucks come immediately to mind.

I have been retired from the business since 2011 and have no hands on experience with late model cars,light,medium duty trucks but with trend of optioning out luxury vehicles and turning trucks into same with creature comforts fitting larger and larger amp alternators to support all the accessories it would seem logical dedicated alternator to battery grounding would become necessary.
 
Not looking for an argument here,don't understand your logic.
On OPs truck,alternator bolted to steel brackets bolted to cast iron block. Negative battery cable bolted to cylinder head from factory,really no better ground path.
I submit you would find near zero resistance from battery negative post to alternator brackets and alternator case itself.

Nowhere in what you stated you do to fortify your grounds do you mention adding a ground wire to alternator,alternator brackets,where would you run this ground wire to,the engine?

Running a ground wire from alternator,brackets to battery negative terminal would be the way to address the resistance,voltage drop you say would be caused by the alternator brackets insufficient grounding?but you make no mention of doing this.
This ultimate alternator ground upgrade is not necessary until you get into 200+ amp output alternators which can test limits of factory ground systems and ground and output wires should be identical gauge. 60 amp,even Nippo 120 amp alternators this is not necessary.Matching alternator output wire to alternator output is sufficient.
Op is repairing battery negative to rad support,adding an engine to frame ground wire and engine to firewall ground at voltage regulator. Where in all this would you specifically address the alternator ground?
 
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