Nations Alternator for the 2010 GT500
- Thread starter XP900
- Start date
The alternator in my F250 crapped out a few weeks ago, I removed it and took to Advance Auto 'round the corner, had them test it (confirmed bad) and had him test test the new one. (confirmed good)
Learned to do this the last time I changed out the alternator on the GT500. I assumed the new one was good, it wasn't. Always bench test the new alternator before installing, it'll save many s headache.
Learned to do this the last time I changed out the alternator on the GT500. I assumed the new one was good, it wasn't. Always bench test the new alternator before installing, it'll save many s headache.
1 month update after replacing alternator with Mechman, cleaning injectors and rewiring grounds and main power buss.
Car has not had a single hiccup now in over a month. Took it on several long trips without any issues. I have not had a single PATS failure since.
Idle is clean, smooth and steady even in hot weather now. Exhaust noise is clean and I hear only a nice steady engine run. I tired some full WOT pulls and had no issues other than tire slippage. Engine is running great...the best it has in years and I can feel the difference in the pickup and throttle response.
So what was the issue causing my problems..... I know the alternator was marginal seeing it drop into the high 12s a few times but I suspect that the loose left ground wire on the top radiator support bracket may have been causing a lot of my issues. When I traced out the grounding wires in the schematics they provided grounds for some of the PCM functions and that may have led to my issues which were poor erratic idling every now and then, intermittent PATS failues (keys not recognized - always solved by plugging a rdr into the OBD port), hesitations, and power loss (engine actually died once while driving on highway - turned key off and it started right back up). I have not had any of these issues now in more than a month.
I bought the TOPDON BT200 to check battery and alternator DC and AC output. Very nice tool and much easier than using a meter for checking everything. Battery and alternator (14.3v loaded output) fine but what I didn't understand is how it knew what my battery CCA actually was. I told it the battery was 500 but it showed it as 700CCA which is what the battery actually was rated at. HOW?? I don't think there are any ICs in a car battery but I may be wrong.
Car has not had a single hiccup now in over a month. Took it on several long trips without any issues. I have not had a single PATS failure since.
Idle is clean, smooth and steady even in hot weather now. Exhaust noise is clean and I hear only a nice steady engine run. I tired some full WOT pulls and had no issues other than tire slippage. Engine is running great...the best it has in years and I can feel the difference in the pickup and throttle response.
So what was the issue causing my problems..... I know the alternator was marginal seeing it drop into the high 12s a few times but I suspect that the loose left ground wire on the top radiator support bracket may have been causing a lot of my issues. When I traced out the grounding wires in the schematics they provided grounds for some of the PCM functions and that may have led to my issues which were poor erratic idling every now and then, intermittent PATS failues (keys not recognized - always solved by plugging a rdr into the OBD port), hesitations, and power loss (engine actually died once while driving on highway - turned key off and it started right back up). I have not had any of these issues now in more than a month.
I bought the TOPDON BT200 to check battery and alternator DC and AC output. Very nice tool and much easier than using a meter for checking everything. Battery and alternator (14.3v loaded output) fine but what I didn't understand is how it knew what my battery CCA actually was. I told it the battery was 500 but it showed it as 700CCA which is what the battery actually was rated at. HOW?? I don't think there are any ICs in a car battery but I may be wrong.
Good to hear the shelby is running up to your expectations with all the upgrades that have been done. Got a topdon myself........love the product!
Final Update.....
I have had ZERO issues with my car since I put in the Mechman and rewired all the grounds. Car put away but I put a few thousand on it since the upgrade.
No PATS failures, no more rough idles, no hard accel shutdowns, no engine dies --- no power issues of any kind. Car runs great.
Even though my stock alt was not putting out great voltages at idle, I believe all my PATS and engine issues were due to the loose small ground wires G102/G103 on the front left radiator support bracket (leftmost of those two front grounds). These are the grounds for the DLC, PCM circuits, Mass air sensor and a few other circuits. It correlates with all the failures I had over the last two years. I caused this issue when I wired up grounds for my fog halos and apparently never tightened that ground back up properly. Even though these were small ground wires they are critical wires!
I have had ZERO issues with my car since I put in the Mechman and rewired all the grounds. Car put away but I put a few thousand on it since the upgrade.
No PATS failures, no more rough idles, no hard accel shutdowns, no engine dies --- no power issues of any kind. Car runs great.
Even though my stock alt was not putting out great voltages at idle, I believe all my PATS and engine issues were due to the loose small ground wires G102/G103 on the front left radiator support bracket (leftmost of those two front grounds). These are the grounds for the DLC, PCM circuits, Mass air sensor and a few other circuits. It correlates with all the failures I had over the last two years. I caused this issue when I wired up grounds for my fog halos and apparently never tightened that ground back up properly. Even though these were small ground wires they are critical wires!
Interesting update observation . Thanks!!
Note to myself...Always tighten and recheck grounds!
Note to myself...Always tighten and recheck grounds!
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