depami

Thanks for all the info. Nice to know there are options.

Mike Frye

We do have our own style here, don't we.

JHowell37

There are some people who honestly believe that first line in the 928 owners manual that says something like "you bought a 928 because you're special." You know that not only am I not one of those people, but I actively crusade against that silly ****. You'll also be pleased to know that not one hammer strike was employed in fitting in this alternator. No sawzalls or blow torches were harmed either.

I cleaned up the wiring last night and did my first road test and if success can be measured by the belt staying on at 110mph and the car not breaking down, then I was quite successful.

The Fixer

At my local Auto Zone that 3G Alternator new, costs: $164.99 with a lifetime warranty. They had 3 in stock. Auto Zone is Duralast brand which i have found to be very good for everything even brake pads for my Cayenne S with Brembos.
My original alternator heats up, when it isn't so cold i will take a look to see why, if i cannot determine why it is heating up i'll be making the swap. Thanks for the info and please obey posted speed limits.

dr bob

Alternators heat up. It's the nature of the almost-efficient beast, where all that mechanical work that doesn't translate directly to electricity is shed as heat. Larger-capacity alternators, same [in]efficiency, generate more heat when that larger capacity is utilized. Got more accessories that use a lot more electricity? A "bigger" alternator might be needed. Got a tired radiator and cooling fans that run all the time and suck power? Guess what I'm going to recommend...

Back to your regularly-scheduled browsing!

risaac928

I cleaned up the wiring last night and did my first road test and if success can be measured by the belt staying on at 110mph and the car not breaking down, then I was quite successful.[/QUOTE]


Cant wait for the those pics and how you did the wiring. Also if you could break down which pully/size you used.

Ethre

Great to have this option for the 32 valve guys!

For what it is worth, you do NOT have to change the pulley on an 82. Porsche switched to a ribbed belt that year.

GlenL

It say it right in the owner's manual!

"Judging by the car you have chosen, you are a motorist of a special breed."

Sure, it's "just a car" but it's a really cool car and an optional acquisition. We didn't get these for the trunk space. (Well, I actually got it as it'd take a hockey bag and stick and an old 911 won't but that's another story.)

But, owning something doesn't make you cool or informed or special.

JHowell37

The alternator Carl sells is a Motorcraft 4G. They're kind of like a narrow body 3G. They're oddball creations IMO.

FWIW, I'm still working out some final details on the alternator I'm using. I was having some issues with erratic voltage, fluctuating heavily at the slightest changes in load and engine speed. I'm not sure if the voltage regulator was bad, or if the problem was related to the function of the Load Response Control(LRC) in the Contour regulator. I swapped it for one that didn't have LRC and this seemed to stabilize the voltage. It required changing over to a different pigtail, but the wiring was essentially unchanged. I'll be getting a brand new Contour regulator(with LRC) this week. I'll swap it back in and see what happens. Then I'll know for certain if the problem was a faulty regulator or the LRC feature.

When the regulator issue is sorted once and for all, I'm going to experiment with a different size pulley, just to see if there's any change in performance. contour alternators had two different pulley sizes available, I've got both, so I'll try both. The Contour pulley on it at the moment is maybe 1-2mm larger in diameter than the stock 928 pulley. FWIW, the 928 pulley will not work on the Contour alternator.

And for the naysayers, "purists", and egghead spergs who think that an open style alternator on the bottom of the engine is a bad idea, I'll be doing a pressure washer test next week. It'll be a poor white trash version of this, but directed at the alternator:



If it fails, at least I'll have a clean alternator to rebuild.

risaac928

Where are the pictures.....I MUST see how you "frankensteined" this thing together....

JHowell37

Unfortunately, there's not a lot of "frankenstein" assembly here. As you can see from these photos, the alternator uses the same mounting setup as the stock Bosch boat anchor.




The only thing I had to do to get it bolted to the car was add a nut and washer to the back of the long bolt that secures the top of the alternator to the power steering bracket. I had to loosen the lower bracket where the adjuster is so I could move it slightly to connect it to the lower mounting point on the alternator. The adjustment mechanism is still the stock hardware and it works the same way. I didn't take any pics because putting it on is so similar to installing the stock alternator.

The stock Contour pulley is a 6 rib design. It's only 1-2mm larger than the Porsche pulley, but due to the different case sizes of the two alternators, the pulley is a little farther away from the crank which is why I had to use a slightly larger belt. The new belt is maybe one inch longer than the standard 928 belt. With the new belt on and adjusted, mine is sitting right in the middle of the adjuster which is where you want it anyway.

I guess what you really want to see is the wiring? Here's the back side of the alternator.



On the left you've got the voltage regulator, on the right is B+. Some may not like the extension on B+ but I do. In between B+ and the regulator is the stator terminal. The regulator in the picture uses a 3 pin connector. Here are the four connections.
1. Battery cable to B+.
2. one pin on the regulator goes to B+ as well.
3. The second pin goes to the stator terminal between B+ and the regulator.
4. The last pin connects to the exciter wire on the car.

The connection to the exciter wire is the only "permanent" modification you'll make to install this alternator. And all you're doing is cutting off the small terminal and crimping on a new blade type, quick disconnect terminal. A pigtail is available to plug into the voltage regulator which makes wiring a breeze.

Here's a pic of the alternator installed with the wire connections.



You'll need to check for clearance between the B+ extension and the oil cooler hoses.

Here's a pic of the back side of the alternator with the pigtail connected to the regulator. The black wire is attached to the stator terminal. The orange wire has a ring terminal so it can go on B+ along with the battery cable. The blue wire connects to the exciter.



A couple of notes about the wiring.
1. When you cut the ring terminal off the exciter wire on the car, inspect the wire for corrosion. Mine had some corrosion in some area, and I wound up cutting off about 5-6 inches. It wasn't causing trouble on my old alternator, but I initially got poor connectivity when I put a new terminal on it So I had to cut off more. Most of the corrosion on mine was on the outer strands.
2. Many of these cars seem to have A LOT of extra wire on the battery cable. You'll need to find a way to secure it. I just zip tied the extra wire to the oil cooler fittings.

In the pics you'll note that the regulator is a stock Contour voltage regulator. I did change it for a different regulator and I'll explain why. When I first tested it on the car, I noticed that the voltage was improved most of the time, but I also noticed it was quite erratic. The needle on the dash gauge would jump around a lot, and it would dip down low whenever there was an abrupt change in throttle. The lights would dim as well. I verified the erratic voltage with a handheld voltmeter at the jump post. I suspected there was an issue with the voltage regulator, so I went ahead and ordered a new Contour regulator from Motorcraft. While I was waiting for it to arrive, I did some more research into voltage regulators because it's a subject I know little about. The voltage regulators on some Ford 3G applications have a feature called Load Response Control (LRC.) This feature is employed on vehicles with small engines. In layman's terms, it's a means of adjusting to changing electrical demands without bogging down the engine, because small engines do feel the load from the alternator. Since the torque curve of a 928 looks more like the torque curve of a diesel than that of a sports car, LRC is not only unnecessary, it's an annoyance. My headlights would dim when I would touch the brakes when the Contour regulator was in it. They didn't even do that when the boat anchor was in it. So I started thinking "was the regulator on my junk yard alternator bad, or was the voltage fluctuation the result of the LRC?" The only way to find out was to get another regulator without LRC, test it, wait for my new Contour regulator to arrive and test that as well.

To make a long story short, my old regulator was on its way out, and the LRC was a problem as well. Putting in the new Contour regulator improved the issue with erratic voltage, and light dimming, but it didn't eliminate it. This was unacceptable. So the final solution was a non LRC regulator. I put about 75-100 miles on it last night. I stopped several times to check the voltage at the jump post as everything became increasingly heat soaked (as much as something can be heat soaked when it's 20 degrees outside.) I would leave the engine running, lights on, heater on 3rd speed, and radio on. I never saw less than 14 volts at the jump post. Even when revved to 5K rpm it never went over 14.6. This is what I saw inside the car for most of the night. (Yes, headlights, radio, heat, etc, all turned on.)

danglerb

Sorry not to have read everything, but a quick google shows the 98 to 2000 Ford Contour had an option at least for a 200 amp alternator, a Bosch AL7558X, so its all in the family right?

Anybody headed to a pick a part, get the electric fans as well.

Ducman82

AL7558X looks the same....

risaac928

Thanks JHowell37 - what a way to save money...gonna print this up and save it to my book - THANKS...

Landseer

Great solution. Lighter too?
This should matchup to 32V.

(True Bosch factory rebuilts are not unreasonably expensive either, though, and can be bought from Advance Auto.
Haven't had any charging issues or dim lighting with Bosch on our 85 or 86 with rest of electrical system completely serviced.)

84 and earlier have different mounting arrangement against the block.
Delco 88 camaro alternator will work on those.