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is the stock alternator enough?

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  • is the stock alternator enough?

    Well I've been questioning this alot lately before i do damage to my cars electrical system.. I have 55W 4300k HID headlights, along with a heated drivers seat(will find out the draw once im back from my garage), a JVC stereo that i beleive put out 350W for the speakers(?), and an 800w sony amp for a 12 inch sub( which i have dialed down to like nothing- just for that bit of extra bass that my 6.5 and 4 in speakers cant produce)..

    i'm looking at mounting some 3in fogs inside my grille(or lower air dam just worried about anything hitting them as they're glass lens fogs) and they're both using 100w h3 bulbs.. this is purely for the night drives down dirt roads as it would more than likely be blinding to oncoming drivers if i was to use them on the highway. I'm just concerned with how the standard trans version of this car only has a 45(?) amp alt and there from what i've seen there isnt much for direct swap alternators for these cars (trying to keep it cheap- was hoping something would be a direct bolt on from a junk yard or something with the only modification being maybe a pulley change).

    I know my headlights will make the car idle down already when turned on, heated seat wont do a thing, and the amplifier and sub dont seem to do anything(probably due to having the gain so low) to the idle at all other than the lights.. any advice would be great..

    not that it's really relevant but the stock 75 or 90Amp alt in my 94 f150 felt inadequate for the same HID's(i took them out of the truck and put them in the festiva for the time being) and even a lower wattage amp with the same sub- light's dimming and nonsense and the volt gauge dipping when at idle if there was any music playing. Was able to remedy it with a 130Amp alt pulled from a E-150 van and didnt have an issue after and to top it off it was the same size pulley and mounting so no belt change was needed.. just was hoping there was an alternator swap like this for the festiva.


    TL;DR version: What alternator's that put out more juice are a direct bolt on for the festiva to ditch the wimpy 45amp one thats on it for cheap.
    Last edited by 89 festevil; 12-07-2015, 10:04 PM.

  • #2
    55 watt HID's draw the same power as stock bulbs. Can you get HID's in those fog lights? They would draw less power. Is the 350watts how much your sterio puts out or how much the speakers draw? What the speakers draw is whats important Nd they only draw that at full volume. Usually its half or less. At idle no stock alternator puts out very much, you dont have to rev it up much to put out decent power though. I used to have a 600watt amp for my subs and high output fog lights on my manual festiva and an air horn i liked to use for fun. the air horn drew a ton of power and when driving at night with everything on and i hit the horn the lights would dim a bit but brighten back up if i kept it down as the alternator adjusted. However i also had a COMPLETELY (almost) dead battery. I had to push start my car a lot. Drove it with that almost dead battery probly 15-20,000km. Everything worked. Put a new well used battery in for winter and never had an issue. I would suggest get the biggest/highest cca battery you can find and adjust your idle up slightly. The higher idle (1000-1100rpm) will help a lot and the big battery will keep things going while your idling. When your using the hight output foglights youll be cruising along at over 2500rpm and i dont think the rest of the draw is enough to worry about.
    I had dual 10in subs in a real nice case that could handle 1000watts i think and my amp was 'only' 600 so i had it cranked all the time. Surprised im not completely deaf.
    This was all when i was a lot younger by the way, lol.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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    • #3
      i'd use HID's in the fogs but i couldn't complain as i got a huge discount on the fog housings and the bulbs. buying HID's for them would cost triple or quadruple what i paid in total for the current setup not to mention shipping.

      I'm a cheapo when it comes to these unnecessary modifications lol- and with xmas coming around money is super tight.

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      • #4
        You might try the search fuction. But I think a protege alt. is the biggest easy swap doable.

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        • #5
          Check out this thread.

          Jerry
          Team Lightning



          Owner of Team Lightning
          90 L "Peewee" B6D. Bought new May 16,1990
          92 L Thunder BP G5M-R Turbo B6T electronics. Jan 2016 FOTM winner SOLD
          93 L Lightning. BP



          Not a user of drugs or alcohol, Just addicted to Festiva's

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          • #6
            1991-1994 Capri. There are 2 plug styles though, so watch out for that. If your car is post 1990, get a 1992 and up capri alternator.
            Beware of alternators that are newer than 1994. Though they may bolt up and plug in, a lot of these alternators have ECM controlled feild coils and this will fry your electronics in your car.
            The Capri alt. is a 70A unit with the same size v belt pulley as a festiva.
            Another usefully tip: buy a brand new high quality belt for a 1991 mazda miata with no a/c or power steering. This belt is wider and it sits up higher in the pulleys. It helps to reduce the squeal problem that happens when you run a 70A alternator with a v belt.
            Driving for me is neither a right nor a privilege. Driving is my passion, as it was for the people who invented the automobile, the people who paved the first roads and the people who continue to improve the automobile. Please respect this passion.

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            • #7
              I found a Ford probe alt works too, 90 amp
              -Greg
              Euro-bprt...WORLDS FASTEST FESTIVA !!! 11.78@115.9
              BP, G trans, Megasquirt/ 550cc inj. t3/t3 (tbird) Garrett, REAR TURBO!!!! AND AC!!!!
              Redneck Engineer
              FOTY - '09
              5x Festiva Madness Attendee...FM 3,4,5,6,8
              http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LpCZ7...9Pwqw-oe8s2OYQ
              http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vU_eX...9Pwqw-oe8s2OYQ

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              • #8
                I used a 1988 323 alternator on my car with no problems. It's only 60 amp but I got it on closeout on rockauto for next to nothing. Bolted on and plugged in with no problems.

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                • #9
                  Funny thing is thinking back now about a year ago i bought one of those 500amp carbon pile battery/alternator load testers and used it on all my vehicles. I am almost 100% certain that my festiva alternator could hold 70amps at 2700rpm or whatever i tested it at. I remember that because my 2002 civic alternator only put out 80amps at its cruising rpm and i thought that was funny/weird. But i looked at my festiva alternator today and it does say 50 amps right on it. So i dont know whats up with that. Cant be the way i did it because i did 3 civics, festiva, a minivan, forklift and a pickup all the same day and all the other ones read at what they were supposed to. Im questioning weather i remember this right but im sure of it... :/


                  Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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                  • #10
                    Perhaps the 50 amp rating is it's minimum required to pass a QA inspection.
                    91GL BP/F3A with boost
                    13.79 @ 100, 2.2 60' on 8 psi and 155R12's

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