ok. i have a 94 honda del sol.

the ecu controles the alternator for better fuel economy. if it thinks it can kick it down to 12 volts and save some gas it will. i want to know how to bypass this so that alt is always putting out what it can put out without the ecu turning it down. there is a plug that goes into the alternator. ive been told that one of the wires on this plug controls the regulator in there. and if i run that wire to the battery it will solve my problem. but i want to hear it from someone that would know for sure.

theres got to be some audio fans out there that has noticed this. i have a voltage meter in my car. and for no reason at all the volts will drop down to 12volts. but if i turn the heater fan on the voltage will jump back up to 14volts. i want to know how to keep it at 14volts.

thanks in advance
matt.

 

Now wouldn't always keeping it at 14 volts lower the operational life span of the piece, or does that not matter in this application?

 

it doesnt matter. its an aftermarket high output alternator with a lifetime warrenty. i just need it to put out all the power that it was made to do without the ecu turning it down.

 

I gotta look this one up... One of the wires (not sure which one) to the alternator is the control wire from the ECU. If the ELD reports low electrical load & the voltage is good, the ECU connects this wire to ground. That turns off the alternator (doesn't switch it to 12v). You could tap this wire with a switch to ground, then close that switch anytime you wanted to disable the alternator. If you cut that wire & place a switch in-line, you can disable the ECU's ability to control the alternator.

 

so basicly if i cut the wire(which ever one it is) that should solve my problem.

yeh look into that for me if you could. id really apreciate it

 

jim is 100% correct the wire is the alternator signal wire. its the red and white wire on the 4 pin connector. It sends the ecu info if the alt is charging with this open it should have 14 volts at all time. I have to say i have never done this before so try this carefully. Hope that helps.

 

thanks for the info. ill have to do some searching for myself and wait for a few more replies, but i will def try it.

 

If someone would be so kind as to host a .pdf (94kb) for me (I can e-mail it too), I have one detailing Honda's charging system.

 

photobucket might host it

 

Alright...so hop to it.

 

hit me up, i can try

******1122@yahoo.com

 

Why are you so worried about this?

 

well i have a stereo in my car. and its not very effective when the voltage drops down to 12volts. and no matter how much current my stereo draws the car will still turn off the alternator. i bought a high amp output alternator to accomidate the extra draw my stereo has, but if the car is turning it off on me its not really making a difference is it.

 

Hopefully this works...

Honda Charging System: Overview and Diagnosis

 

I bet you hooked the stereo's power directly to the battery. So the ELD isn't measuring the power that the stereo is drawing.

If you disconnect that alternator control wire, maybe your idle will get flaky. I think the ECU 'knows' when it turns off the alternator, and it adjusts the IACV accordingly. IF that happens, then you might have to figure out a different way to hook up the ELD & the control to make it work.

 

well i cut the wire today, and havent had any ill effects yet. we will find out tomorrow if i run into any problems.

 

well today my alternator shot craps. i dont know what happend, i was accelerating fast on an on-ramp and started to smell burning electronics. i think somthing got fried in the alternator. but i dont understand what it could of been. the wire i cut is only supost to turn the alternator on or off as it needed.

 

It probably burnt out because you where full fielding it constantly

 

lol oh well. lesson learned. thanks for being the tester TCR

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by tcr03 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">... the wire i cut is only supost to turn the alternator on or off as it needed.</TD></TR></TABLE>This time, leave the control wire hooked up, but take your stereo power off after the ELD. You could increase the size of the wire from the battery to the under-hood fusebox, then tap out after the ELD for your stereo. That way, the ECU measures the power being drawn by the stereo, & it won't switch off the alternator.

I don't think cutting the wire causes full-field constantly. The voltage regulator would be responsible for that, and you didn't disable that.

 

well ive had the power wire upgraded to 4 gauge for years. the wire from the battery to the alt, battery to the fuse box.
i dont really understand why the alt would go out because its on all the time. like jim said the regulator should control the output.

 

Looking for info to remove alternator from 91 Accord...any help?