tarafied1
Well-Known Member
Okay, I still haven't solved the blinking instrument/tail light issue but I think Dave was on to something with the alternator.
Last weekend I was cruising around town, low speed just cruisin' when I came across some friends standing outside. I stopped to chat and left it idle while we gabbed thinkin I wouldn't be long. After a few minutes I realized I was going to be a while so I shut it off. After about 15 minutes or so I tried to start the car, the big 429 with 10.5:1 doesn't crank easy when it's hot but it wouldn't turn over hardly at all. I thought maybe the starter was hot so I waited a while longer. Still nothing. Long story short I needed a jump and it fired right up. Now I am thinking I don't have enough amps at idle to run everything and charge the battery. I have the bat in the trunk with a long cable so that doesn't help, also have a electric fan on a toggle switch with no relays. I have been researching on the web and that is a big no-no I guess. So I have read a lot on the web and see many posts saying different things. Some say 30-40 amp alt is good enough and some say you need a 65 to 100 amp! Right now the fan is tied directly to the hot side of the starter solinoid (pos bat side), would the fan (without a relay) be enough draw to cause these type of issues? and what size alt do you guys recomend? Also I guess I need to add a amp/volt gauge... When I put in the tach I tossed the amp gauge so I don't have a clue what the alt is doing.
Last weekend I was cruising around town, low speed just cruisin' when I came across some friends standing outside. I stopped to chat and left it idle while we gabbed thinkin I wouldn't be long. After a few minutes I realized I was going to be a while so I shut it off. After about 15 minutes or so I tried to start the car, the big 429 with 10.5:1 doesn't crank easy when it's hot but it wouldn't turn over hardly at all. I thought maybe the starter was hot so I waited a while longer. Still nothing. Long story short I needed a jump and it fired right up. Now I am thinking I don't have enough amps at idle to run everything and charge the battery. I have the bat in the trunk with a long cable so that doesn't help, also have a electric fan on a toggle switch with no relays. I have been researching on the web and that is a big no-no I guess. So I have read a lot on the web and see many posts saying different things. Some say 30-40 amp alt is good enough and some say you need a 65 to 100 amp! Right now the fan is tied directly to the hot side of the starter solinoid (pos bat side), would the fan (without a relay) be enough draw to cause these type of issues? and what size alt do you guys recomend? Also I guess I need to add a amp/volt gauge... When I put in the tach I tossed the amp gauge so I don't have a clue what the alt is doing.