Alternator advice.

[bopper85cj]

I was wondering if anybody has gone to a larger alternator on their CJ. I have an 85 CJ with the 258 and I'm not sure if it's big enough. I want to add electric fans, fog lights, stereo,etc... The jeep also has a Howell fuel injection. How to you know if the alternator is sufficient?

 

[dalefan88]

gm luxury cars from late 70s to mid 80s would have a higher amp alt. i have one out of a 85 monte carlo ss but it is only 75 amp. not much more then stock. i think caddys have alot higher amp.

 

[coldwater]

Meh, the stock alt is barely adequit to run the Jeep as it is leave alone adding amp sucking electronics and lights. I would say a good 135 amp would be a great place to settle on.

 

[TeamRush]

I was wondering if anybody has gone to a larger alternator on their CJ. I have an 85 CJ with the 258 and I'm not sure if it's big enough. I want to add electric fans, fog lights, stereo,etc... The jeep also has a Howell fuel injection. How to you know if the alternator is sufficient?

The SIZE of your alternator is probably sufficient, the '85 model year came out with around a 65 amp unit, and that should be plenty for most appliances.

*IF*
You intend to use fuel injection, it might not be the correct TYPE of alternator...

The Delco Remy SI series of alternators were 'Full Field' alternators, meaning they could come in with FULL CHARGE when they kicked in...

That would voltage spike the computers in modern cars, and screw fuel injection computers into spastic fits!

The reason most fuel injected vehicles use a Delco Remy CS series alternator is the CS series has 'Avalanche Rectification'...
And they have voltage regulators that don't let them spike when they first kick in.

Personally, I still use SI series alternators because they are Dirt Cheap, Common As Rocks, and available everywhere.

When I build fuel injected vehicles,
I always use the CS series alternators so they don't voltage spike the computers for the fuel injection.

Since many of the CS 130 alternators will bolt right in your current bracket, and only require a $25 adapter to run in your vehicle, I would consider one before investing in a Howell...
Might save you some problems in the long run!

 

[bopper85cj]

Thanks everyone for the advice, this is all new for me. I put the electric fans on last night. They came from a Ford Contour. I noticed that my headlights are dimmer now and when I turn the fans on my voltage gauge drops down to 12 from 14 but then returns to 14. I still have to add some fog lights and a stereo. I'm not sure yet but it's seems like my battery was weaker this morning. It may not be getting a full charge. The Howell fuel injection seems to be still working fine. I'm still not sure if I should go with a larger alternator and if so how big.

 

[CJ]

Since many of the CS 130 alternators will bolt right in your current bracket, and only require a $25 adapter to run in your vehicle, I would consider one~~~
Might save you some problems in the long run!

I would follow TeamRushes advice...

 

[OlivergreenCJ7]

Not to high jack, but is there a high amp alternator with dual pulleys that you can run on a amc 304?

 

[TeamRush]

Not to high jack, but is there a high amp alternator with dual pulleys that you can run on a amc 304?

Two groove pulley is as close as the salvage yard or the local alternator rebuild shop.

 

[BrockGrimes]

Early 90's caddies had 124amp alt's
There are several in the yard near me so they aren't hard to find.
The amp of the alt is actually etched in the alt near the mounting ears.
These are CS 144's and can be made to fit a stock jeep by using a univeral alt bracket found at your local autozone.
That's what I used, but my alt had a bad bushing/bearing and I removed it and installed a new stock jeep alt.
I'll go with another caddy one the next time i hit the yards.

Looks like this but I had to cut it: