Could aftermarket radio have caused alternator to go?

HPLouis · Nov 12, 2018

Hi,
My car has 15K miles and is stock except for wheels, exhaust and an aftermarket radio system. The alternator is going out so I'm gonna remove it and get it rebuilt. I don't want to go down this road again in several months so I'm wondering if the radio could have caused the alternator to go.

The car has a Jensen VX7020 head unit: Jensen : Mobile Multimedia : VX7020

It also has a PowerAcoustik Gothic GT5-2500 amp: GT5-2500 | PowerAcoustik

And Infinity Kappa 682.11 CF speakers: Infinity KAPPA 682.11CF | 6" x 8" Coaxial Car Speaker

I'm wondering if I should remove the stereo set up and put the stocker back on. It's not like I'm a radio guy anyway so I wouldn't miss much but if it's not a problem, I'd rather not go through of the trouble of removing all the wiring.

Thanks

01yellercobra · Nov 12, 2018

Unless something is wired incorrectly I can't see it causing the alternator to go out. It's probably just the known issue rearing its ugly head.

BlksvtCobra01 · Nov 12, 2018

HPLouis said:
Hi,
My car has 15K miles and is stock except for wheels, exhaust and an aftermarket radio system. The alternator is going out so I'm gonna remove it and get it rebuilt. I don't want to go down this road again in several months so I'm wondering if the radio could have caused the alternator to go.

The car has a Jensen VX7020 head unit: Jensen : Mobile Multimedia : VX7020

It also has a PowerAcoustik Gothic GT5-2500 amp: GT5-2500 | PowerAcoustik

And Infinity Kappa 682.11 CF speakers: Infinity KAPPA 682.11CF | 6" x 8" Coaxial Car Speaker

I'm wondering if I should remove the stereo set up and put the stocker back on. It's not like I'm a radio guy anyway so I wouldn't miss much but if it's not a problem, I'd rather not go through of the trouble of removing all the wiring.

Thanks

I doubt it these cars are going on 15 years old. They go out from over spinning them. Mine has a factory rebuilt unit.

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DSG2003Mach1 · Nov 12, 2018

it looks like that system on average should only be pulling 400-600 watts if you have those speakers in all 4 positions, that shouldnt be enough to really cause a problem. If having it rebuilt locally you could always see about having them up the output a little bit. These cars are notoriously hard on alternators

HPLouis · Nov 12, 2018

Thanks. I was really dreading the idea of having to put the interior and everything else to get the radio out the car. At least I know now that it should do well after the rebuild.

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xsellr8 · Nov 12, 2018

HPLouis said:
Hi,
My car has 15K miles and is stock except for wheels, exhaust and an aftermarket radio system. The alternator is going out so I'm gonna remove it and get it rebuilt. I don't want to go down this road again in several months so I'm wondering if the radio could have caused the alternator to go.

The car has a Jensen VX7020 head unit: Jensen : Mobile Multimedia : VX7020

It also has a PowerAcoustik Gothic GT5-2500 amp: GT5-2500 | PowerAcoustik

And Infinity Kappa 682.11 CF speakers: Infinity KAPPA 682.11CF | 6" x 8" Coaxial Car Speaker

I'm wondering if I should remove the stereo set up and put the stocker back on. It's not like I'm a radio guy anyway so I wouldn't miss much but if it's not a problem, I'd rather not go through of the trouble of removing all the wiring.

Thanks

The alternators on these cars are extremely weak and temperamental. They are the same alternator as the v6 mustang internally.
Please see my videos on this- I have the install separated into videos on the alternator, the big 3 wire upgrade (highly recommended for higher output units), and a video of both in the same video.

whitedevil95 · Nov 13, 2018

Normal Cobra problems. Im on my 3rd of the high dollar alts.

IllCobra · Mar 19, 2019

Sorry to bump this thread, but have any of you guys tried out the air duct vent cooling mod? If you haven't, I strongly suggest you all do. If you run a Aeroforce gauge, or any other device that reads your battery output, you can see what a difference it makes. I was able to increase city driving from 13.2-13.4 (sometimes lower) to seeing constant 13.6-13.7 while moving. And I never see anything below 13.7 while driving on the hwy. Hell, when the temp drops to the low 70's here in FL, I see 14.0 on the hwy. All this was after I did the air duck vent cooling mod. Best $14 you can spend on protecting your alternator. Heat is what is killing these things, so it makes sense that feeding it air would prolong the life of them.

And I am not running an expensive alternator either. 160amp alt from ebay.

jdant · Mar 19, 2019

IllCobra said:
Sorry to bump this thread, but have any of you guys tried out the air duct vent cooling mod? If you haven't, I strongly suggest you all do. If you run a Aeroforce gauge, or any other device that reads your battery output, you can see what a difference it makes. I was able to increase city driving from 13.2-13.4 (sometimes lower) to seeing constant 13.6-13.7 while moving. And I never see anything below 13.7 while driving on the hwy. Hell, when the temp drops to the low 70's here in FL, I see 14.0 on the hwy. All this was after I did the air duck vent cooling mod. Best $14 you can spend on protecting your alternator. Heat is what is killing these things, so it makes sense that feeding it air would prolong the life of them.

And I am not running an expensive alternator either. 160amp alt from ebay.

Did you buy a certain kit and how easy is it to install?

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IllCobra · Mar 19, 2019

jdant said:
Did you buy a certain kit and how easy is it to install?

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Very easy to install. Here's a link to a thread. I didnt do the heat shield mod.

https://www.svtperformance.com/threads/alternator-cooling-mods-heat-shield-and-ducting.971302/

I need to find the part number for the air duct hose, but I bought it from O'Reilly's. It was $13 and change for like 6 or 8 feet - way more than you need.

It really make a difference. A couple weeks ago, I noticed my gauge reading under 13.4 even on the hwy. I thought my alternator was dying and was disappointed the air duct hose didn't make a difference. That was until I checked if the hose was still pointing at my alternator. Turned out it had shifted just below the alt. Pointed it back and zip tied it to make sure it wouldn't happen again. Battery reading went right back up to where it was before (13.5+).

Could aftermarket radio have caused alternator to go?

HPLouis

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01yellercobra

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BlksvtCobra01

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DSG2003Mach1

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HPLouis

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xsellr8

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whitedevil95

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IllCobra

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jdant

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IllCobra

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