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MG MGB Technical - MGB Saturn Alt Upgrade

I followed the Saturn alternator upgrade instructions, new pulley, rotate housing, spliced thin brown to brown / yellow, new connector, grade 8 bottom 1.5 " bolt and nut, red and 2 brown all to "BAT" via connector, pulley alignment looks good, same belt, and have installed the 95 Saturn Alternator. MG still in garage, still testing.

Belt squeals on acceleration, but seems pretty tight. (Have gauge but never figured out # of lbs).

I see that the alternator gets hot to the touch after a few minutes of running. I figure I need to tighten the belt, but is the heat of the alternator housing indicating a problem? I know this is a 105 amp alt, and the Lucan was 40 some to 60 some, but still....
G Johnson

Spounds like it is shorted and acting as an electro magnetic brake.
S Best

Check with Darryl at his OneFastMGB site or email him directly. He should be able to tell you what is normal and not and to help you check your wiring. http://www.onefastmgb.com/pages/6/index.htm
Bob Muenchausen

I've never checked the temperature of mine, but I've run it 5000 miles since June and it's great! I couldn't find any 8 gauge wire at the time, so I ran two extra 10s from the threaded binding post on the back, running to the solenoid (along with the pre-existing brown leads) and a third to my second (added) fuse box. Eventually, I'll get some 8 gauge and redo it. The important thing is that all those wonderful amps can't go anywhere unless you provide heavy enough wiring for them.

I did this because my '73 B/GT now has several extra electrical loads on it: A/C, two electric fans on the condenser/radiator, halogen headlights, etc. 95 amps is serious overkill, but it's nice to have a system that won't die while sitting at a stoplight on a warm night in the rain, with A/C, radio, defroster, windscreen washers, stoplights and turnsignals all running.

I may be misunderstanding something, but did you mean to say that your battery (solenoid) lead is connected to the plug-in connector on your alternator? If so, it should be connected to the binding post (bolt and nut) on the back of the alternator.

FWIW,
Allen
Allen Bachelder

Defroster?...on a warm night?!

;)

Curtis Walker

Oh yes - to keep the windscreen from fogging! Essential in high humidity, although the A/C does take care of most of that.

Allen
Allen

Alternators, like coils, get pretty warm when running normally even with little electrical load, from conducted heat from the block as well as generated internally.
Paul Hunt 2

Paul,

Yes, I just discovered that. ' Had never thought to check before, but my Saturn alternator gets quite warm. Yet it seems to be doing the job very well. I've had it in for about three months and 4000 miles. The heating must be normal.

FWIW,
Allen
Allen

This thread was discussed between 04/10/2005 and 12/10/2005

MG MGB Technical index

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