Can someone recommend a high-output alternator and battery replacement for an integra? What brands are best?

 

Ohio Generators makes on of the better commercially available setups around, but they run about 500.

If you want, go to termpro.com and look around for a guy by the name of dominick. He rebuilds alternators, and I have yet to hear a bad thing about them. (He even makes a dual alternator setup for integras for around 300A!!). He uses the factory case, rewinds the alternator, and then replaces the bearings. I think they are 80/90A at idle and 150/160A max ouput. All of this for ~300. He'll upgrade from a 1yr warranty to a lifetime for an additional 100.

If you want the cheapest solution I can find, it's at http://www.4alterstart.com I have no clue what their quality or performance are like, but at that price, it may be worth the gamble.

Remember to upgrad the magic 3 under hood when you upgrade the alternator:
1. Alternator to Battery
2. Engine Ground
3. Chassis Ground

As far as the battery is concerned, I really can't help you too much. I don't know what will fit in an Integra. I know that the 96-00 Civics have a hard time taking a full sized battery (like an Optima). SVR makes a battery especially for this "compact" application. You may want to try them out. Again, that's for a civic, take some measurements and contact the manufacturers, both were very helpful when I was originally searching for a solution.

Hope that helps


[Modified by rcurley55, 1:37 AM 11/21/2002]

 

Go easy on the newbie... but where can I find these "magic 3"? I'm assuming we're talking about wires here. And if so, would an upgrade consist of using a thicker gauge? What gauge are we talking about?

 

Sorry about that.....

Yes thicker gauge....the key to wiring is to remember that a wire's ability to safely carry current is determined by two factors:

1. Diameter
2. Length

As a wire's diameter increases, it can carry more current. The opposite is true for length...the longer the wire, the less current it can carry.

Shooting from the hip, the return lead on your alternator is probably 10 or 8ga...it's only designed to carry 60-80A of current. So, imagine thowing in this new alternator, but you leave the stock wires? Well, you rev it up to 8000RPM, now you are trying to send 150A through that tiny wire, and guess what you have a fire. You will have to upgrade those three wires to 4ga.

The alternator to battery wire is just that...it connects the output of the alternator to the positive terminal on the battery. The Engine ground runs from the engine block to the chassis. The chassis ground connects the negative terminal on the battery to the chassis. You can probably leave the last two alone. Because they are so short, they should be fine, but while you are there it's cheap insurance...plus it looks nice.

 

If shorter and thicker is better, is there any harm is using an even thicker gauge for all three (0 gauge)? The entire bit about "you have a fire" scares me a bit.

http://www.stingerelectronics.com/st...wire.asp#power

 

Not Really, for overkill

 

You could use 0 ga wire for all of your underhood wiring, but why? That's just wasting money (and I always err on the side of caution).

Check out the lengths that you have to run...the longest underhood wiring run you have is approximately 5 feet for the alternator to battery wire (it may be shorter)

A 4 ga wire is capable of carrying 200A for a length of 9 feet, so I think 0 ga would be EXTREME overkill (especially when it runs between $2.50 and $6.00 a foot!!)

 

Buy an SVR50, upgrade the wiring for the alternator, battery and ground under the hood, plan to run a cap and be realistic in your amplifier selection.

Those aftermarket high output alternators are not designed for daily drivers and are not expected to last more than a year if you plan to do so. Right from Ohio Generators mouth, according to two different people I know who have used them.