Hey guys,
I just went on ebay and found a fellow who was selling a Hi-Output 160 amp alternator for all Camaros and Firebirds 87-92 with the 2.8 Engines, The 3.1 Engines, The 5.0 TBI + TPI, and the 5.7 TPI Engines. I am a little curious to buy this because there is no way of telling if it will really fit. All I have is the guys word that it will fit. Do they all have the same alternator? For those of you with huge stereos did a 160 amp alternator solve your dimming problems? Let me know so I can buy this. Also, how hard is it to change? Thanks

 

Are there any negative aspects to adding a more powerful alternator? Is it too much for the battery to handle?

 

You mean nobody looks at this kind of question?

 

if i remember right, the alternator for that year range should be the same. As far as the high output, you want to make sure that you plan to use most of the amps it puts out, otherwise it may overcharge the battery. Not to mention the voltage regulator will die prematurely. if you are running a high output stereo, then you will have no problem.

Changing the Alternator is easy.


Make sure the -- battery cable is off.
release the tension to the belt, and take it off the alt. pulley.
unbolt, remove and replace the alternator. Then rehook you battery when you are finished.

 

The more I think of it, the lights dim only at redlights at idle, so it isn't the high end thats bad, its the low end, and from what I hear, the bigger alternators have even worse low ends. So I should probably just stick with it. Thanks

 

GM vehicles from 87 use the CS series alternators. A larger alternator will not fail because it has too much output. The only drawbacks with a 140 or larger amp alt are this, lower output at idle and it will tend to shorten the life of the battery. You can equate this to a Ni-Cad battery like a cell phone uses. Rapid chargers will reduce the life of the battery of your phone. Same thing with you auto battery. A very high output alt will hit the battery very hard with charging current to bring it up to voltage as dictated by the regulator. This type of hard charge cut's a battery's life dramatically. A larger alt will not fail prematurely because of it's increased output, but may fail because it will tend to slow cook the battery. It will not overcharge as one post mentioned or destroy the regulator IC just because it is larger. The CS alternators are a variable duty cycle type, meaning that depending on battery condition and load requirements it may only be charging 20%-off 80%. An 80-100 amp unit is a good choice for most applications, most of the time bigger is not better. A good way to exxtend alternator life is to once a month trickle charge the battery. An alt will only keep a battery at about at best 80% of capacity. By trickle charging you will keep the battery at or near full capacity effectively requireing less charging from the alt.

 

87 alternators will not fit on 88-up cars. The holes are slightly different because of the v-belt/serpentine bracket differences. I always thought they were the same myself until a friend of mine called me up from the side of the road with a dead alternator in his 89 and I took a spare I had that came out of an 87 and it didn't fit...

But internally, it's the same alternator.