Big 3 Upgrade: Planning Stage (Input Encouraged)

[sqcomp]

Come on man! Get this already! :)

[The Architect]

i figure itll get it tuesday or wednesday and Ill install it saturday which is the only time i can do anything.

It's freezing up here in CT right now so ill be traveling to a place in Long island where theres a small garage ill heat that ill be using.

[The Architect]

here come the pics, I received it today. Also included is my super duper volt meter from hong kong.

[Slick]

OOOOHHHH, I feel all tingly on the inside :) Good luck with the install man

[sqcomp]

Well...the dimensions are a little different. I'm wondering how the fit is going to go. Did Iraggi put an overdrive pulley on that?

Saturday is when this happens? Well my friend...I can say that you have someone 7000 miles away that is pulling for this to be a smooth install and great operation. ...If it is for you, I'll go ahead and throw down the coin for a slightly smaller Ampere one from him as well.

You have all of his contact information?

[The Architect]

by all small tests and eyeballing and measuring it should fit.

It is in fact an overdrive pulley. The usual size they send is 2" as opposed to this 1 5/8"

DC power is talking so much sh*t about iraggi and how hes a crook and theres thousands of things on google about him etc etc.

Then got to saying actual bad things about the alt and how itll never do 300amps and also how it'll shred the belt because of whatever and it wont be able to drive the alternator physically...

Idk i guess alternator makers are at each others throat but the customer service at DC sucks complete ass. Robbie said he tried calling em a few times but i got no missed calls and my phone is glued to my hand.

I had to call him at his cell to get a hold of him and i bet he didnt expect that.

Lastly, Robbie of DC said he had a rep that has a yaris (oh yea now hes got a yaris...k) and he's going to make a perfect fit alt etc etc and take pics of it working etc...

If that happens...fine ill take it and ill let someone of yw have the perfect fit HO alt.

[sqcomp]

Ummm...

It won't be me. I'm not playing around with DC. It seems they've given you a bad time, so they don't get my business.

Have you opened up the hood yet to see how the new alty will fit?

[The Architect]

holding it in the engine bay proves to be no good seeing as how that proved to be useless when it came to the DC alt although by all measurements and intensive engine bay eyeballing ti looks good, we shall see.

[drew113087]

Originally Posted by sqcomp

...and yes, I will re-do the engine compartment grounds after I get home from Iraq. I need to make ready for IASCA...

Every little improvement will help. That includes techflexing and putting heat shrink around the terminations of the grounds. They look amateur now. I already purchased a nice little billet aluminum battery clamp thingy from Micro Image. I'm thinking some billet brass connectors for some kinetik batteries soon...

I can do much better than these grounds I have on there now, show-wise at least.

As was mentioned I did NOT remove stock grounds, I only added. Besides, the power flows on the path of least resistance.

I Feel you man just came back from a mission to VBC earlier today (ps breakfast is waybetter over there) Adding a few grounding cables to boost the mpg... I just might do that too when i get back to the states.

[sqcomp]

While we're waiting for install pictures...

Tell me more Drew. You in the dust bowl too? What unit are you with? Which DFAC did you go to?

I actually had an increase of right around 2 mpg on my Yaris with a $13 big three upgrade. Okay, $13 is the insider price but still, all I spent was $13 on the compression fittings for my little ride. I'll be replacing the engine compartment 4 gauge runds with 1/0 gauge runs techflexed, that have the nice compression fittings as well. I may do this on R&R this December when I'm finishing up the deadening on my car. Hopefully I'll have the time to drop the headliner when I'm finishing the back doors, back deck, and the trunk. I've already put 3 bulk packs into the floorpan, back seat, and the front doors. I'll probably be looking at another three bulk packs for the rest. This car is already "quieter than an AMG Merc" according to the shop owner. Yeah!

[The Architect]

heres how it went

i installed the HO alt and it fit 99% right which will be resolved in the future but the alt fits plenty well to work for everyday use. This is the best news of all

here are the problems that occurred

-- The car threw a P/S light
-- It would not shift out of park
-- The HVAC console would not work or light up
-- It was charging at 12.2ish volts

at first impression it sucked.

once i removed the alt and inspected i saw that one of the four wires of the black connector that i had to extend had come loose (the green one).

I reattached the green wires and retested it all only to have the same problems.

I was talking to iraggi through the process here and there.

I then put the backup stock alt i ordered (not my stock one) on and got it all together then i still had the same problems.

I should at this point say that in my idiocy i didnt during any of these install attempts attach the factory 8gauge or so alt to batt wire and just used my run of 0/1 cable.

When i put in the backup stock alt i reconnected the oem alt to batt wire (never tried this alt configuration without it) and i had also fully disconnected the battery from the vehicle for probably 25 minutes so as to clear any codes and reset the ecu.

when i came back and put everything back together and tested it it all worked 100% no problems.

So this just leads me to believe that if i now swap the HO alt for this alt it SHOULD work just fine so long as all wires stay fully connected and nothing comes loose.

Idk when ill be trying the swap it again seeing as how its hard to get a day of free time but ill try to shove it in somewhere.

anyways....at least for now im charging at 14.2volts again.

[sqcomp]

hmmm...

I'm wondering if the stock body 180 Ampere model is the way to go then...

[The Architect]

it was a learning experience for sure, in retrospect knowing what i know now i think it couldve been much easier.

the slightly larger case version fits...thats all there is to it. The only thing that has to be done is extending the black connector which is easy

im just going to swap it back in sometime in the near future and be 110% on every single move i make and if any of the same problems are still there then ok maybe the stock case is the way to go.

[Slick]

Hmmm, im only slightly less excited than I was before, but overall im super excited for the final product. :) Thanks again for being the G-pig. :)

[sqcomp]

Just so I don't become confused...

This Iraggi alternator does NOT work as you hoped?

[The Architect]

i can understand why youre confused, ill try to make the event as easy to understand as possible. it's not fair to say that it didnt work because well...just read on

heres how it occurred in steps.


1) I installed the iraggi alt and extended the black connector so it fit on the new alt.

2) I extended the connector and attached it to the alternator before installing because this is necessary.

3) I did not know it at the time but the green wire of the extended connector had come loose during the install and i believe this caused the p/s light and hvac loss.

4) I also did not reattach the OEM Alternator to Battery wiring because at the time i didnt think them to be of importance because I was using my own 01/ run. I forgot that the OEM wiring went into a junction box that attached to the batt....its important

5) The ECU was remembering the P/S code from the clipped green wire every time i tried a new test and i also continuously did not use OEM wiring.

6) I stopped trying with the HO alt and just wanted to see if the car would work fine with the stock backup OEM alt that i had ordered. I installed that OEM and the same problems that I had with the HO alt were happening with this alt.

7)I uninstalled the stock alt. because i was having the same problems and called iraggi and got tips.

8) At that time i could no longer afford to put anymore time into this project so i installed the backup OEM Alternator i ordered just in case (not my stock one) And i reattached the OEM wiring ALONG with my 0/1 run AND I fully disconnected the battery from the vehicle for 25 minutes and let the ECU reset.

9)Everything then worked perfectly..no codes and i was charging at 14.2


If this made sense to you then in theory the HO alt should work if i were to swap it out right now, this is what i think and i consulted iraggi about it all as well.

[sqcomp]

Okay, so you're going to re-install the Iraggi alty sometime soon?

I'll be watching closely, I can tell you that much.

[The Architect]

yea ill get it reinstalled as soon as ive got some time.