My alternator went out and I was thinking about buying a higher powered one, and maybe a chrome or polished aluminum one for dressing up the engine compartment.l Summit has a bunch that would seem to fit according to their website, Powermaster I believe is the brand. 105 or 140 amp would be good I think. The 105 A is like $185 and the 140amp is like $240 or so. Is it worth buying the bigger amp one? Anyone have a good experience with a specific one.?

Geez, I guess alternators are'nt too popular. Anyway, I guess I will be the brushed aluminum one instead of chrome, the chrome could wear off eventually. Im still not sure if I should spend the extra money for a 140 amp or 105 amp. I guess unless I hear some information to the contrary I'll just go with the cheaper one.

I've had the crhome Powermaster on my car for three years and it hasn't worn off or faded yet.

I also got the polished powermaster from summit and have been very happy with it. Had it for 3 or 4 years. Never at a loss for power or ran the battery down.

i have the MSD bilit jammie, damn its nice - also if you looking for performance east coast makes very good ones- ithink jegs is seelling them now

I would go for the 140 amp, I have a 105 amp its not a power master but im not to happy with it.

PWM-27294 from summit is a 100 amp polished version and its only 142 U.S. i have had zero problems with it. and it looks nice.

first off, congradulations on not just going out and buying a rebuilt used piece of trash.

I think that was my problem, it was remanufactured, I didnt realize the guy shop that replaced it used remanufactured parts, it wasnt till about a month of having it i saw the remanufcatured sticker

you could have the alternator rebuilt and you maybe able to find a chrome housing, thats what i did, but my cousin owns a starter and alternator shop.

I ordered the 140 amp Powermaster yesterday from Summit. $156

Might as well get the bigger one I say.

Thanks for the comments guys

Well fortunately its not a daily driver so I can afford to let it sit in the garage while Im deciding. I bought a remanufactured one for my son's 90 firebird, it is a daily driver and I haven't had any problems yet. I guess when he gets a job he can buy whatever one he wants

I guess Im going to go with the 140 amp powermaster chrome one. I can't order it til payday this Friday. It should be a direct bolt on and connect the plug and wire right? Summit website has a feature where you can check what cars it fits and lists my car so I like that. Jegs doesn't have that.

The downside of the Powermaster's is that they're CS130 cases with upgraded internals. At 105A, these alts generate a decent chunk of heat. At 140, I bet they're damn near on fire. That's also these small-cased alts main weakness. Not enough cooling, so they overheat easy. If you can (and I think you can) find a CS144 off of a 96+ truck. It's got the same bolt pattern as the serpentine CS130, and it's a MUCH beefier unit, rated at 140 amps stock.

Depends on your needs, 105 will work great with mild perfomace upgrade and good stereo that's what i'd get my self. the 145 amp if you have a hugh suround sound bass kicking stero or/and high amp ignition set up, dvd players, xbox or just basically alot of electronics. i think stock cars (PW, PL) came with 95 amp but you might wanna dubb check on that. also keep in mind if your wire harness is 20 sum years old can they handle a high surge of juice?

The only wire that needs upgrading is the alternator to battery+. It's recommended to do The Big Three regardless. And the 105 has problems in my car at idle. It barely manages to keep the car at 13v, and when I'm sitting in traffic at idle, hitting the brake, the turn signal, with the headlights on and stereo blaring, it gets down to 8-9v. Brand new alternator, wiring in good shape. I've got the CS144 ready and roaring to go in there for the optimum idle output.

I just upgraded to a powermaster 140A alternator, 80A at idle. I'm very happy with it, the quality is excellent. Heres a link to it in summit.
http://store.summitracing.com/partde...5&autoview=sku



I used to have a cheap 80A Tuff Stuff alternator which worked great for many years (7-8 I think) but I once I added a 18A electric fan to all the other electric stuff that I already had it wasn't quite enough to keep the voltage up especially at idle. The Tuff Stuff alternator was always kinda loud, there wasn't anything wrong with it but it was louder than any of the other alternators I had.

140 amp chrome power master here also. I was running a Advance Auto alt but it blew a big one, the volts were not always good (and no i dont have a system) and it seemed that every time i spun over 6300 rpms the diode would burn up, have had a powermaster for 3 years and 20,000 miles and no problems. Highly Recomend

my first powermaster i ordered from summit was DOA, but summit sent me a new one with no porblems....was a polished 105amp

Thanks for the comment guys. I ordered a 105 A powermaster chrome plated one. I dont have a big sound system or anything. When I drive the car I don't even play the radio, I prefer to hear the sound of the motor. Besides, I removed the AC for less weigth and cleaner engine compartment. Im mainly concerned with looks and racing, its a street/strip car.

One thing, some of the units were listed as "one wire capabable" and some not. I ordered one that was one wire compatable. What does this mean exactly? Is this required for our cars?

Wise choice... 105A is plenty for most of us and Powermaster is fine stuff. There are some advantages to the three-wire setup. Here's a link re: one-wire vs three-wire: http://www.madelectrical.com/electri...hreewire.shtml

Enjoy!


OPTIONS

THREE-WIRE

ONE-WIRE


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