taikowaza

hi guys long time no post! Hope you are all doing great on the 2nd gen forum! new job and new town, lots to keep me busy. I saw a pretty cool TRD Tundra recently, called a TRD ROCK WARRIOR it was pretty cool I took some pics. let me know if you want to see them I can post later.

I've got a question today, my boyle alternator puts out a lot of juice and charges that battery great while powering a LOT of gear. Unfortunately, the alternator wire end terminal (where it attaches to the alt) has fried and it's all corroded and shot. I need to replace it, my battery is not charging because it's in bad shape. (see pic)

I want to know what terminal end I should get for the alt to battery cable. I want something that will never corrode or crack like the one I have now even though a lot of current goes through it.
What size alternator stud is used on the 3vze? I need to know that so I can get the proper ring terminal. The one I have now was too big which might have been part of the problem.

I guess I will know this when I learn the size of the alternator stud but what size and type washer and nut do you recommend for the 3vze alt? My nut and washer fused together...I want to replace those as well with the best quality and temp resistance.

Thanks so much for your advice on which terminal end, nut and bold I should buy (and, if I need to replace the cable, what type do you recommend).

HAPPY WHEELING!

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Jay351

I would just go to your local auto parts store and buy some good battery terminal connectors. Should be fine. I bet yours is just really old.

myyota

Im in the process of upgrading my 86 4Runner with an MR2 alternator, so im also upgrading the wiring from the alternator and going directly to the battery and then from the battery to the fuse box. The stock wiring is 8 gauge, and im upgrading to 4 gauge wire, and i would recomend that you do the same, and solder and shrink wrap all of the terminals. I was able to find the terminal ends and wire at a local parts house but off the top of my head i don`t know the size, i just got what looked like the right size. The terminal that burned off your alternator is definatly to big, and the hole size that i bought for the alt terminal is more than half the size of yours, and if its a little to small i can always drill it out a little.

broyota

I know that stereo shops usually have gold plated or stainless steel connectors and lugs. They are nice because they are designed to handle lots of power (like competition subwoofer setups), and aren't as crude and generic as the stuff found at auto parts stores.

Jay351

^ good idea, I didnt even think about that!

taikowaza

Thanks guys. My connector is only a year old, it looks old and fried because of all the current passing through it. You're right that it's way too big. I think I do want to go with something gold plated if that would be the best choice. Only thing is that my battery is already getting low and I need to do something quick. My cable is 4gauge, nice, so now I am wondering if it will be easy for me to swap out the terminal. I am not sure what I need to do, I see that you recommend soldering and shrink wrapping the terminals myyota but it's beyond my ability alas.
I'm wondering if I took the rig to bestbuy and asked them if they could put some HD competition sound system lugs on the alt wire if that would work. because I already have done the big3 upgrade toyota won't touch it, all they ever tell me is that they want to put the stock alt wiring back on! Ha! It burned out in a week! And they want to replace the entire wiring harness at $1000 give me a break.

PS what size hole do I need in the terminal/what is the diameter of the alternator stud?

Jay351

you can do it man. This stuff is really easy.

Just cut off the old connector, slip on the new one so its almost completly on, then just heat it up and put your solder into the connector. It will melt instantly and you will be done!

Then slip over some shrink wrap and your done

abecedarian

and use Kopper-Kote or NoAlox on the terminal to prevent corrosion.

Jay351

I use NGK anti corrosion gooze

wyoming9

iTrader: (1)

Tell me how long you need your cable and what style end you have on the battery end.

i will make you one. For what it is worth i think the stud on the alternator is M8x 1.25.

I hope your alternator is not kaput it doesn`t look good .

PM me the details if you are interested.

taikowaza

Thanks for all your help guys! Wyoming9 thanks for your generous offer!
I took off the alternator wire, and untaped it and took a look inside, WOAH! Um, I think I know why I wasn't having very good conductivity, check out these pics!!

So, I went to Checker's and brought my existing cable. I got a heavy duty 4-gauge cable of the same length with thick terminal ends on both sides.
I also got some loom, red tape to mark it for safety, and some new nuts and washers for the alt stud.
I ran the wire, used some thermal protection, threaded it carefully away from any heat sources, cranked her up and boom! Charges perfect, starts instantly...a great feeling.

Thanks again guys, I am sending pics of the alternator wire carnage. I think part of this is that I just finished 2000 miles while running an ARB fridge, GPS, PIAA foglights, stereo amp and subwoofer, alarm system, and all this while running an inverter that was charging phones, a spare battery, computers and a breast pump (don't ask!)
hillbill

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BigBluePile

iTrader: (3)

GOOD LORD MAN!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hope you have a fire bottle in your truck!!!!

874runnersr5

Good fix!

wow, that cable looks brutal

taikowaza

Last question- what is the absolute best stuff I should put on the terminal ring where it meets the alternator stud, in order to prevent any corrosion?
So far, in this thread I heard NGK anti corrosion gooze, Kopper Kota and Noalox. If you can tell me which one I should get (these, or another type) that'd be great. I did some reading today and heard that suspended zinc particles are a good thing. I have standard dielectric grease but I'd rather use something more specialized. Thanks again! So happy my alt problems are gone and even happier that the safety issue is resolved. I couldn't see the extent of the corrosion because the whole thing was wrapped with thermo-tek and loom! So, it baked inside it's covers like a tater. Thanks for the advice re: best product for anti-corrosion on the high voltage area.

Jay351

I have always used the NGK stuff, a few of my friends recomended it

Damn, thats a scary wire!!! Electricity can be very scary, do you have a fire extinguisher?

I did, untill I accidently set it off while removing my junk from the back seat haha!

taikowaza

howdy Jay, yep I have 2 fire extinguishers in the rig. The wire looks scarier than it was because I ripped into it and twisted it out...but yeah it's pretty durn bad. I'm really glad I got to it this weekend. Believe it or not it was still conducting right up to this last weekend. I feel much better knowing that the alt wire is fresh and clean.

Re: the NGK stuff I checked their website and couldn't find it...how bout a link if you have one
thanks Jay!!

abecedarian

We use either KopperKote or NoAlox on all of our ground connections on cell sites- it's a requirement per AT&T, Verizon, Sprint and TMobile specs. I've gone to sites right on the seaboard (right next to the ocean) and had green buss bars (copper oxidation is green), yet pull the lugs off and it's shiny bright copper underneath, and clean aluminum on the lugs.

Dielectric grease is an insulator, so you don't want to use that unless you have some other mechanical means to guarantee electrical conductivity like star washers.

Jay351

Alright, well I went and checked my toolbox. I guess I was trippin. The stuff is Truck-lite NYK corrosion preventitive.

Made in the usa lol

TNRabbit

Run a separate large gauge wire (2-4 gauge) directly from the Alternator post to the battery, independent of your wiring harness. The pics look like you had a bad connection or ground somewhere....

taikowaza

Thanks guys! TNRabbit, believe it or not, that cable that was fried, was the cable going directly from the alt post to battery. I've got 2 grounds, one to chassis, one to engine block.
I think what happened, was that the wire was run behind the distributor cap, where it gets really hot. (the part that turns to adjust timing). I think that it cooked. The way I ran it now, is that I avoid the back of the distributor cap, I extend off to the side, go around the dipstick and then feed along the top towards the battery. THANKS guys for your help with this I do not want to let the alt cable ever get this bad again damn.
Thanks Jay for checking on your NYK glad for that update. abecedarian thanks for the noalox tip I am going to try that. Just ordered a bottle online. I also upgraded my battery connections to nice brass connectors (was this a good choice?) and cleaned the posts. thanks again