Found the cure to our alternator woes!!!

[FLYIN]

PA 130 Alternator died last night on me. Very little warning. Once I started getting indications it was too late had less than a minute until the car quit running. Nothing like sitting at an intersection waiting on a flat bed. I got the ABS light, then the Airbag light, then the tach, speedo, fuel gauge went to zero. Error message on my wide band. Then the car starts to hiccup and finally died as I was in the left turn lane trying to get a u turn to get my car back to the storage unit. People were nice enough to drive by talking shit though. "You should have bought a Chevy were the common remarks". Nice, I am not expecting anyone to help, but at least keep the stupid comments to yourself as you drive by. One guy decided to show me how bad he was by burning out as he went by. I was very impressed. BTW I own 2 Chevys.

Start N Charge batteries still available from Jamie?

 

[Silver2003Cobra]

PA 130 Alternator died last night on me. Very little warning. Once I started getting indications it was too late had less than a minute until the car quit running. Nothing like sitting at an intersection waiting on a flat bed. I got the ABS light, then the Airbag light, then the tach, speedo, fuel gauge went to zero. Error message on my wide band. Then the car starts to hiccup and finally died as I was in the left turn lane trying to get a u turn to get my car back to the storage unit. People were nice enough to drive by talking shit though. "You should have bought a Chevy were the common remarks". Nice, I am not expecting anyone to help, but at least keep the stupid comments to yourself as you drive by. One guy decided to show me how bad he was by burning out as he went by. I was very impressed. BTW I own 2 Chevys.

Start N Charge batteries still available from Jamie?

I'd think that your alternator was gone for awhile, since your battery WILL keep the vehicle running for a couple hours till it dies (if nothing else is running, wipers, heater fan, headlights etc)

 

[mustangsally1]

I do not know much about the 03, I had that problem with my coupe. I was going through alternators every 3 weeks, I switched to a one wire one that one blew. Then I decided to upgrade the one wire to a power master chrome one, sure more expensive but I never had to replace it in over 5 years. I do not know if that would work for you guys but it did for me, just thought I would share that.

 

[03 DSG Snake]

What voltage should the ECU be seeing as read through an Aeroforce at idle?

 

[Stalker27]

I just had to order a alternator from Mr Steve Tousley the other day since mine took a crap on me. I went ahead and ordered the 3.2 alt pulley as well hoping it will prolong the life. The 3.2 pulley is considerably bigger than the stock pulley. So it should help slow it down pretty good. Also I'm Still on stock lower pulley. I'm going to replace the battery while I'm at it

 

[88_mustang_GT]

My question is this: If you're running a 4 lb. lower, should you be using the recommended 3.2" alternator pulley, or go ahead and use the 3.5" alternator pulley? I would assume that they recommend the 3.2" pulley with the 4 lb. lower to keep the alternator shaft RPM around the same speed as the factory, however, the factory ratio is a plausable problem to failing alternators. I'm not sure of the actual diameter of the 4 lb. lower pulley rings, so I can't do the math to figure it out for myself.

Any thoughts?

Thanks

 

[cobra_mer]

OP great write up this explains what happened to my alternator last summer, hot day in fayetteville. Alot of city driving, A/C, radio, start stop, etc. Pulled into work smelled smoke, popped hood to find my alternator smoking, your great write up explains what happened. Luckily I was able to roll into my tuners shop.

 

[black03_cobra]

h

 

[FLYIN]

Start N Charge lasted me 700 miles. Then coming back from Las Vegas the steady battery light came on at Victorville 108 miles from my destination. Pulled off to Sears (closest place) and had them recharge the battery. Went 47 minutes until the brand new Optima Yellow top had enough and the car quit running. Triple A to the rescue and flat bedded the Cobra back to my storage unit in Oceanside. Now back to the drawing board, will be calling Jamie tomorrow. Will give the Start N Charge one more try and then I am going back to stock. The Start N Charge was a 160 amp with the upgraded wiring installed. Was running 3.2 under drive pulley on the alternator with stock size crank pulley. Good news car did pass smog in Nevada so I can register it another year. Last year after it passed smog the Whipple 2.3 seized. Thus it now has a 3.4 with a crusher on it. Car was running great until the alternator quit.

 

[03 DSG Snake]

Start N Charge lasted me 700 miles. Then coming back from Las Vegas the steady battery light came on at Victorville 108 miles from my destination. Pulled off to Sears (closest place) and had them recharge the battery. Went 47 minutes until the brand new Optima Yellow top had enough and the car quit running. Triple A to the rescue and flat bedded the Cobra back to my storage unit in Oceanside. Now back to the drawing board, will be calling Jamie tomorrow. Will give the Start N Charge one more try and then I am going back to stock. The Start N Charge was a 160 amp with the upgraded wiring installed. Was running 3.2 under drive pulley on the alternator with stock size crank pulley. Good news car did pass smog in Nevada so I can register it another year. Last year after it passed smog the Whipple 2.3 seized. Thus it now has a 3.4 with a crusher on it. Car was running great until the alternator quit.

700 only?

I'm curious to see what SnC says about the failure when they get it back. :nonono:

 

[FLYIN]

Got the alternator pulled today. Appears that the bearings are shot. Pulley doesn't freely spin. Feels like grit when it turns. Was going to go get it tested at least before I sent it back, but that doesn't seem necessary now. So what are some ideas of why bearings would fail? On another not I have another issue besides this one to troubleshoot. The fuel pressure regulator is pissing fuel. This car is fun.

 

[Rick James]

Sub. Just lost my OEM alternator at 22k miles. Car seems to run fine, but the battery light is on, even after replacing the ORIGINAL battery :rockon:, so I am going to go ahead and replace the alt. Ordered a Napa rebuilt, so we will see. After reasing this and other threads about the alternator issues in these cars, the ONLY common denominator I see is HEAT. Anyone know what sized tubing we need to run ducting from the spare fog hole??

 

[START 'N CHARGE]

700 only?

I'm curious to see what SnC says about the failure when they get it back. :nonono:

"THEY",being "me",sole owner/ operator/builder/floor sweeper will take the unit apart...tell the buyer what happend to the best of my 30 years of experience in the business,send pictures as to what failed & fix it at no cost to the buyer if it is in fact a part failure or defect in "my" workmanship.

If it happens again,i will give the buyer the option of a refund.Pure & simple.

If my customer isn't happy i'm not either.

I make no claim to have the magic no fail unit for the 03-04 Cobras....Simple fact is these cars are hard on the alternators.

I do a lot more to these to ensure there arent any comebacks,trust me i dont want to see that alternator fail anymore than you do after spending good money.

I'm a car guy too(only Buicks) I get shit parts all the time for both my cars & the business & get pissed at the quality :fm:

I dont put anything out my door or on my car i dont trust...'nuff said:beer:

 

[03cobra#694]

Jamie, you back up and running?

 

[keith89]

"THEY",being "me",sole owner/ operator/builder/floor sweeper will take the unit apart...tell the buyer what happend to the best of my 30 years of experience in the business,send pictures as to what failed & fix it at no cost to the buyer if it is in fact a part failure or defect in "my" workmanship.

If it happens again,i will give the buyer the option of a refund.Pure & simple.

If my customer isn't happy i'm not either.

I make no claim to have the magic no fail unit for the 03-04 Cobras....Simple fact is these cars are hard on the alternators.

I do a lot more to these to ensure there arent any comebacks,trust me i dont want to see that alternator fail anymore than you do after spending good money.

I'm a car guy too(only Buicks) I get shit parts all the time for both my cars & the business & get pissed at the quality :fm:

I dont put anything out my door or on my car i dont trust...'nuff said:beer:

+1 great customer service. I had one of he earlier runs where there was a problem with the epoxy melting slightly Jamie sent an updated unit and it has been running flawlessly for about 4k miles so far.

 

[FLYIN]

Jamie was more than happy to take care of me. Alternator is sent back to him and he said he will be sending me out another Monday. Excellent customer service. I got the fuel leak from the regulator fixed as well. Once I have an alternator car will be up and running again in less than an hour. Am looking forward to figuring out what potential cause of failure was in order to prevent future issues if there is in fact anything that could have been done.

 

[FLYIN]

Alternator sent back out to me yesterday. Should have it by tomorrow is my guess. Less than an hour I'll have it back in and the car will be up and running. Looks like I will make the Knotts show in two weeks. Then hopefully Fontana for a little street legal drag racing the following week. Thanks to Jamie at Start N Charge for the quick turn around.

 

[Bdubbs]

Just preparing myself for when the time comes that I need a new one. For those that upgrade to a larger (3.2") pulley, don't you have to then change to a larger belt? So it's either a ford reman or a start n charge?

 

[V6&V8SHO]

I reused my 150k mile 01 Cobra alternator on my Eaton swap setup with custom brackets. Although my alternator stays on the accessory drive and doesn't get burried in the bottom. No way in hell I was gonna deal with alternator issues.

 

[racebronco2]

I reused my 150k mile 01 Cobra alternator on my Eaton swap setup with custom brackets. Although my alternator stays on the accessory drive and doesn't get burried in the bottom. No way in hell I was gonna deal with alternator issues.

I was thinking about over the past year. I am interested in these custom brackets. Do you have pictures or templates of the brackets? What did you use in place of the alternators? Did you use an idler pulley?