alternator wire size

[ryanprins13]

I couldn't find any posts on the forum about what size it is and I don't want to peel back insulation in my car to check. Does anyone know or have a wiring harness out of the car that they could measure the diameter of the copper in the wire going from the alternator to the main fuseable link? I would like to know what gauge it is. Thanks!

[FestYboy]

Do you want the charge wire or field wire? The larger of the 2 goes direct to the battery and is typically 6GAW

[ryanprins13]

The field wire goes to the plug with 2 wires right?
Im looking for the white one that goes from the alt, through the fuseable link, to the battery. And it looks smaller than that to me, but perhaps the insulation is very, very thin.

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[ryanprins13]

I forgot that fastivaca had kindly donated a wiring harness to me back when i was still planning to use my red festiva for my trip. I remembered while i was driving home and just went out, cut some insulation off and measured it. Its 8awg. So thats properly sized for 50 amps which is good to know. The insulation was very brittle and already cracked in one spot, bending the wire split it more- just a heads up to everyone else with 25yr old cars... be careful when moving wires.
If anyone runs a 90amp or more alternater and actually expects to draw over 50 amps the wire should be replaced with 6awg and the correct in-line fuseable link or fuse.

Do you want the charge wire or field wire? The larger of the 2 goes direct to the battery and is typically 6GAW

Ill post this here too since its still bugging me. I do not trust myself to read these diagrams correctly. If you have the time and patience-...is the alt wire going through the main fuse or straight to the battery? Thanks.



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[FestYboy]

OK find c102, that connects to the bottom of the fuse link block. That's why one lead for each fuse is always hot. Now according to the diagram, the alt feeds power to the unfused side of the block. To me this is a dumb setup, because it could lead to feedback through the main fuse link (which now that I think of it could be causing some of the blown links we've been seeing). So in that case, the alt pushes power backwards through the main to feed the EGI and lamp links, and is also the main power source for the interior fuse block.

[bravekozak]

The insulation was very brittle and already cracked in one spot, bending the wire split it more- just a heads up to everyone else with 25yr old cars... be careful when moving wires.

I have encountered that problem with the wire to my headlights. They can go on and off simply by handling the wire bundle behind the left front headlight. I have to change the wire when the weather gets warmer.