I purchased a new 60 month batt. a little over 2 yrs ago and it went dead. Since the new batt. I have added 2 small amps and HID`s w/ relay and was just wondering if the stock alt should be able to handle this load? Or did I kill my batt prematurely because the alt. doesnt put out enough amps? I did have all my electrical, alt, belts checked and they are all ok. Thanks in advance.

 

I'm finding more and more of the replacement batteries out there just plain suck.
I got 13 years out of the factory batt in my 93 Dodge truck , and now heading for a second replacement in 4 years. My 03 Ranger is still on the factory original as well as my 02 Tacoma.
I have yet to find a replacement battery that will last as long as a factory one.

 

I just wanted to get some others input before I go rip on Sears. Its a DieHard batt and it cost me over 100. bucks and since it went dead at work, it also cost me an 85.00 tow plus 155.00 mechanical bill for the tests that the place I had it towed to did. I wanted to be sure it was the batt and not something draining it , so... needless to say, Im rather pissed off at this point. Thanks for your thoughts.

 

you need to find out what amount of amps that alternator put out at idle

several years ago i talked with a man who had a custom built alternator that put out 185 amps at idle
and 245 amps at 3500 rpm`s.

it was about 2 weeks later ,i reconized the burnt out shell of his truck on a flat-bed wrecker

1 audio amp is okay electrical wise, but 2 amps and a hid kit is just pushing your vehicle`s OEM wiring past the brink of what it can handle AMPERAGE wise

o good alternator will put out 90-95 amps at idle and 135-150 amps at 3200-4000 rpm`s

a good idea , is too find an alternator specialist,, he can build an alternator to fit your needs but nothing too excessive good luck

 

There seems to be conflicting reports from doing a search. Some say 2001 have a 95amp alt. and some say 130. Im leaning toward the 95. Also I had heard the HID draw less then factory lights and that its not the batt. going on but the alt. I did have all my electrical checked at the shop and they said all was fine. My amps consist of a 400w and a basslink. I have seen people that have much more, 2 or 4 off road light,multiple amps ect. on here and are not having issues.

 

im running 4 55w lights a 1000w amp, 55w HID's and i have had no problems. everything on my truck is stock.

 

Wrong. Rangers have 95 amp peak alternators. And an alternator that makes 245 amps is nothing too insane, they sell ones that do more than that for our trucks. He was probably and idiot and didnt upgrade his wiring.

 

Exactly. I think ripping on sears is justified then. Thanks

 

there are all types of conditions to where a lead-acid battery can fail prematurely.
sulfur likes to build up on the plates. too much charge, too little,fast, voltage ect...

if you've ever drained the battery to below 10.5v for any amount of time will kill it.

some times you can bring them back to life by buying a smart type charger.
the charger will charge the battery at a higher voltage for a period of time.
which causes sulfur buildup to dissolve. unless the buildup is excessive.

also fluid levels could be low if it was charged too quickly from a low state.
many things could have happened.

maybe buy a dry-cell battery, and think about upgrading your alternator and grounds...

High Output Alternators - Alternator Repair Kits - Heavy Duty Alternator Parts - Ford 3G 200 Amp High Output Upgrade/Rebuild Kit

problems are not always apparent in the electrical system. they tend to manifest themselves over time.

 

I wouldn't buy a rebuild kit, I'd just buy one of these

Ranger

 

I got one from the link korey89 posted. They happened to be a 20 min ride from me. look through that site, i got an upgraded one for a lil more than the one in the link. I havnt had a problem with it, but then again i dont have any lights or amps.

 

I guess not everyone likes building stuff like that. haha

 

My concern was that I killed the bat early by having additional load on it. I know about higher amp alts, but was really wondering do I really" need" one with the few addons that I have?. Sears did there test and did confirm the battery was defective and refunded all of my $$. I just dont want this to happen again.

 

some people do not understand?

your wiring was manufactured to handle certain amps for certain wires yes.

if you add a higher amperage output alteranator
you must also upgrade to higher amperage ALTERNATOR TO BATTERY re-charge wire

that factory wire was only installed to handle so many alternator recharge to battery power

over time the battery will become over-charged ,, the battery will eventually short internally
thus sending power feed-back to the alternator ( shorting the regulator )
and thus sending more UN-REGULATED power to the fuse box ( thus distributed to other circuits )
relay`s , blowers , radio`s , engine computer and so on will start to blow

so then people become confused as to what is going on
( when all of their dash lights start to flash when the engine is running )

engine running
headlights on
air-conditioning on
radio on hazard lights on

your alternator is now taxed to it`s limit,, any additional power that you require.
requires a more powerful alternator output ( not so much volts but amps )

this was explained to me by a alternator rebuilder expert

when he works on peoples vehicles.
he always upgrades the main wire to a 2 gauge wire
( alternator re-charge output to battery wire )
he also changes out the crappy BIG 3 regulator to a more robust japanese re-placement

 

You have absolutely no idea what you are talking about, I'd just stop now before you look even stupider.

 

i am afraid that i do!
because i watched him rebuild a f250 alternator ,, right in front of me

another tech was working on mine

 

Or not. I can watch someone do brain surgery, but does that mean I'll learn everything about it after? First of all you probably don't even know what a voltage regulator is and what it does. High output alternators don't destroy your battery. And second there is no such thing as a "Big 3 regulator". "Big 3" refers to a set of 3 wires, one from the alt to the battery positive, one from the battery negative to the chassis ground, and the engine ground to chassis ground. Before you try and help people, learn what you are talking about or just keep quiet before you confuse others.

 

If that whole alternator thing was true then my truck would be on fire right now because Toyota uses higher amp alternators on trucks with the tow package. When you swap to a really high amp alternator then you would have to do the big 3.

OP: You can swap to the 130 amp alternator from an Explorer if you are worried. Really though you should be fine. If your lights dim when you have tunes on then get a cap.

 

OP: You can swap to the 130 amp alternator from an Explorer if you are worried. Really though you should be fine. If your lights dim when you have tunes on then get a cap

No I dont have a problem with lights diming and thats really all I wanted to know...if I need one or not. Thanks