Cincinnati Guy
Registered User
Taking a trip to the junkyard tomorrow on the hunt for a 3G. Its a 1992 Ford taurus Im looking for right? I have heard a few different vehicles including some type of van...Can someone confirm this?
3G Question
- Thread starter Cincinnati Guy
- Start date
sle2115
NRA LIFE MEMBER
LCAM-01XA
Full Access Member
And apparently some Windstar vans too, I just saw one in the junkyard not too long ago and it had the large-frame 3G alternator.
Cincinnati Guy
Registered User
Well I gotta 3G alt for $17!!!! Its a motorcraft to, hope I got the right one, it only has 2 holes in the little ridges....Now to wire the dang thing! I am completely clueless when it comes to wiring. I also snipped off the wiring with the alternator to... I wish there was a step by step with pictures haha. I guess I will look at the pictures on here and study.... Will I need to buy any new wiring for this?
check the link I posted,^^^ if you cant figure it out from that, sell your truck.
Cincinnati Guy
Registered User
I did some work on my truck and here is how it is currently.. from the Alternator is an orange with blue stripe, a black with orange stripe, that goes into a thick gauge yellow wire, and a small yellow with green stripe wire and a black with orange stripe wire...The Yellow wire goes toward the cab of the truck, Im thinking its the key on power? The black with orange splits again and turns to a green wire and right to the solinoid. and the green wire with orange strip goes into the voltage regulator...
Cincinnati Guy
Registered User
Im pretty sure I got this I want to make sure before I screw it up.
The B+ terminal goes to the solinoid.
The A Terminal hooks into the B+ terminal
The S Terminal goes to the Stator
The I Terminal goes to the key onpower?
What wire on the existing alt will work for key on power?
Will I need the old voltage regulator or should I take it and all the existing wiring out of the truck?
Sorry for all the questions its just wiring isnt my thing.
The B+ terminal goes to the solinoid.
The A Terminal hooks into the B+ terminal
The S Terminal goes to the Stator
The I Terminal goes to the key onpower?
What wire on the existing alt will work for key on power?
Will I need the old voltage regulator or should I take it and all the existing wiring out of the truck?
Sorry for all the questions its just wiring isnt my thing.
LCAM-01XA
Full Access Member
You remove the old voltage regulator and its wiring entirely, basically the only thing that is left is a single thin light-green wire with a red tracer stripe. When you install your new 3G unit there will be a 3-wire plug needed, which you either take from the donor car, or you can buy new for a few bucks. Wiring is as follows:
- on the alternator plug, the green wire with red tracer gets extended to where it can meet with the green wire with red tracer that was left after ripping the old stuff out - this is your key-on trigger wire.
- on the alternator plug, the white wire needs a small female spade connector crimped at its end, and that gets plugged into the side of the alternator stator (only one plug there, you'll see it easy).
- on the alternator plug, the yellow wire needs a ring terminal crimped at its end, then this gets slid onto the main power output stud at the back of the alternator - this is your battery voltage feel wire, but it don't really need to go all the way to the battery to work right.
- from the main power output stud at the back of the alternator you need to run a 2-gauge or larger cable to either the battery or the starter relay on the fender, depending on where your main power draw is - for instance my main power draws are at my batteries (all my lights plus the power inverter are hooked up directly to the batteries) so I have a 1/0 charge cable ran to the battery directly, but on a mostly factory truck you may want to run the charge cable to the starter relay stud so you do not bottle-neck the system with a small factory cable from the battery to the starter relay.
That's all there is to it really, piece of cake job.
- on the alternator plug, the green wire with red tracer gets extended to where it can meet with the green wire with red tracer that was left after ripping the old stuff out - this is your key-on trigger wire.
- on the alternator plug, the white wire needs a small female spade connector crimped at its end, and that gets plugged into the side of the alternator stator (only one plug there, you'll see it easy).
- on the alternator plug, the yellow wire needs a ring terminal crimped at its end, then this gets slid onto the main power output stud at the back of the alternator - this is your battery voltage feel wire, but it don't really need to go all the way to the battery to work right.
- from the main power output stud at the back of the alternator you need to run a 2-gauge or larger cable to either the battery or the starter relay on the fender, depending on where your main power draw is - for instance my main power draws are at my batteries (all my lights plus the power inverter are hooked up directly to the batteries) so I have a 1/0 charge cable ran to the battery directly, but on a mostly factory truck you may want to run the charge cable to the starter relay stud so you do not bottle-neck the system with a small factory cable from the battery to the starter relay.
That's all there is to it really, piece of cake job.
Cincinnati Guy
Registered User
Alright thanks, couldn't really decipher if you removed the voltage regulator or not. All I gotta do now is get the wiring to go to the battery, Ive been told to use some 4 gauge wire so that's What im going to get, and also a 170 Amp Mega fuse....
Cincinnati Guy
Registered User
Its time for me to follow up on this project. Well Apparently the junkyard alternator was trashed so I used it as a core and bought a new one at Auto-zone for $160 give or take cant really remember. I used 4 gauge wire from the alternator to the solenoid. The 175 Amp fuse is just temporarily in place the way it is until I can get my mega fuse holder in the mail.
Word of advise, don't be like me and go crazy cutting out the old wiring for the old alternator, I went and cut the power wire that goes to the cab. I could of wired it to the alternator right? but I went and ran it straight off the battery.
All in all pretty easy project except for the cutting wires part!!! I now have brighter and steadier headlights. Also someone said it sounded like it was running smoother, but I dunno.
DONT CUT THAT YELLOW WIRE!
Word of advise, don't be like me and go crazy cutting out the old wiring for the old alternator, I went and cut the power wire that goes to the cab. I could of wired it to the alternator right? but I went and ran it straight off the battery.
All in all pretty easy project except for the cutting wires part!!! I now have brighter and steadier headlights. Also someone said it sounded like it was running smoother, but I dunno.
DONT CUT THAT YELLOW WIRE!
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LCAM-01XA
Full Access Member
Glad to hear you got it working right, too bad you couldn't use the cheap alternator tho. Oh well, at least now you know you're good for at least a few years.
Cincinnati Guy
Registered User
Came with a life time warranty.
subliminal
Full Access Member
thx for the info in this post, i used it as refference for my 3g swap today. i found 2x 3g's at the local u pull yard for 10 bux a piece with the harnesses.
one of them had worn bearings but the other was good. they were both tested at the parts store and tested good. the local parts store doesnt carry the bearings but i found the bearings and brushes/hd voltage regulator online so ill be able to rebuild the alternator for a fraction of the cost of a new one and have a spare if i need one.
http://www.alternatorparts.com/3G_products.htm
this site is great.
the parts counter guy was like , "what your doing is a lost art, nobody ever rebuilds their own alternator any more" a now they dont even list the bearings in their computer system under the vehicle the alternator came from. he said you have to have the actual part number and mfg before he can look it up. what a joke some of these places have been. i believe its probabally to put more money in their pockets because they would rather make money on a large $175 alternator rather than $50 worth of parts. teh parts guy also being a friend of mine said that most peopel dont even know how to test the parts inside or even take one apart. i laughed because it seems ignorance is taking over and making the smart people have to be smarter and work harder to maintain our intelligence as a whole.
ok rant over lol thx for the help in this thread.
one of them had worn bearings but the other was good. they were both tested at the parts store and tested good. the local parts store doesnt carry the bearings but i found the bearings and brushes/hd voltage regulator online so ill be able to rebuild the alternator for a fraction of the cost of a new one and have a spare if i need one.
http://www.alternatorparts.com/3G_products.htm
this site is great.
the parts counter guy was like , "what your doing is a lost art, nobody ever rebuilds their own alternator any more" a now they dont even list the bearings in their computer system under the vehicle the alternator came from. he said you have to have the actual part number and mfg before he can look it up. what a joke some of these places have been. i believe its probabally to put more money in their pockets because they would rather make money on a large $175 alternator rather than $50 worth of parts. teh parts guy also being a friend of mine said that most peopel dont even know how to test the parts inside or even take one apart. i laughed because it seems ignorance is taking over and making the smart people have to be smarter and work harder to maintain our intelligence as a whole.
ok rant over lol thx for the help in this thread.
