and for today's episode of "Guess what broke and left me stranded?"

[MustangNJ]

So I now know the capacity of the factory alternator, at least in its current condition...I am running an 800w stereo amp, a USB GPS speedo, and an iPhone charger....that is too much draw for the installed alternator.  I know this because the battery lacked the juice to start the car in the shopping center parking lot.  it may be obvious I guess, but the OEM alternators just weren't designed for modern draw.  I'll be installing an upgrade asap.

 

[Mister 4x4]

I'm thinking it's time for a modern 1-wire alternator swap for mine as well.  I'm not running as much load as you (yet), but just running from car show to car show every few to several weeks isn't giving mine enough time to replenish the energy pulled from the initial start-ups.

 

[71coop]

I feel your pain - I went to one of the bigger local shows last night, which consisted of meeting at the Bellefountaine OH fairgrounds, where all cars line up for a cruise through town and finish by parking downtown for the actual "show". As I started out of the fairgrounds onto the main street, my new Stant thermostat, the one specific for a 351C, froze up (closed of course). Had to pull off and repair if right there - lucky an autozone was less than half a block away.

 

[MustangNJ]

and I am still not running headlights, HVAC, a stereo head unit, and other basic stuff. def will install an upgraded Alt.

 

[mudbilly]

I'd highly recommend a 1 wire Power Master. I installed a 90 amp 2G small frame when i put in my stereo. Toasted the that when I went to electric radiator cooling fans. It locked up and melted the fan belt, I still haven't gotten all of the melted rubber off of the inside of the hood.

Upgraded to a 200 amp 3G large frame that just cleared the block. Works like a charm.

The irony is that I wound up removing the electric fans and went back to stock fan blade. Electric fans were LOUD and they were worse at cooling that the stock fan.

 

[Don C]

There were a lot of problems with the 2G alternators, I wouldn't recommend that anyone upgrade to them. You likely didn't overload it, it failed all by itself. 3Gs are the way to go.

 

[MustangNJ]

new 140amp alternator installed. upgraded points to electronic ignition. flamethrower coil, new plugs and wires. car seems happy about it