MugenR

My friends stock alternator on his 98 Accord just went because of his AEM pulley set so he got a new alternator form acura meant for 97-00 CL.... it's rated at 180 instead of 150 that the accords have. will this be stronger? meaning, will they hold up witht he pulleys unlike the stock Accord alternator?
thanks

CLUofI

how was it determined that the pulleys were the cause of the failure. I have had mine on for 4 months with no problems, i even have a 400 watt amp.

Austin519

MugenR:
Hmm...that 150 and definitely that 180 sounds high. I am almost completely sure that no CL has anything that high. 2002 TLS's have 120A alternators...I had mine rebuilt to 205. There's no way they put that large of alternators on those cars. As for stronger...anytime you make the alternator spin faster it wears out. Let me make sure I know what I'm talking about, about these pulleys before I go one. The pulleys replace the power steering and alternator pulleys (they're smaller and lighter) so that there's not as much parasitic draw on the car yes? Okay...well this is what I wonder about those pulleys. If you lighten the pulleys you decrease rotational mass, which is a plus. Now if you shrink them you also decrease rotational mass, and you speed up the rotational spin on each. Now you will always have some drag for the power steering and the alternator...they have to spin at certain speeds to function...but if you replace the pulley on the axle driving the other two pulleys you should equal out the speed. The only reason the alternator would be wearing out is because it spins much faster. So unless you need that extra power from the alternator created from extra rotational velocity...then if you change out the drive pulley with a smaller one you should be fine...or if you just get the same size but lighter pulleys for everything. I know this didn't exactly answer anything but I was just curious.

So to answer your Q, no, having a higher amperage alternator means nothing necessarily. Getting that higher amperage can be done by just putting more copper windings in the alternator...but the brushes in it will still wear out.

Austin519

CLUofI

the pullies are a fraction of the weight(rotational mass) and are larger in diameter. and there is less drag from the accessories because of the larger diameter.

Austin519

CLUofI:
I don't understand. With a larger diameter, the belt in the pulley has to travel a larger distance for the same rotation...so would it not have to turn more? And except for the less rotational weight of the pulley...it will still take the same amount of KE to turn the accessories, you're not changing them. So how exactly do the pullies help the system aside from lessening the loss to rotational KE?

Austin519

AtlCl

The point is that because of the larger diameter the alt and power steering pullies will turn slower, thus giving less juice to those accessories and freeing up a little hp for the engine. Power steering should suffer a bit and if you are not moving, the battery will be draining since the alternator is supplying less power and the battery has to supply more power to make up for it. At highway speeds the alt should be spinning fast enough to replenish the battery and to run the accessories.

CLUofI

^^^ perfect. i have never had problems, but i also got a brand new battery a few months before the pullies went in. I noticed a little difference in the force required to steer, but the force is still realy light compared to most other cars.

Austin519

AtlCl:
Wow that's a seriously stupid thing to do to your car. Granted if you're running a stock electronics setup I am sure you can get a wheel just large enough to power the system at idle...but I mean geez...I dunno about how smart that is to do. Lighter pulleys I understand...smaller pulleys...eh...

Austin519