2003 Whipple Mercury Marauder with charging problem.

[jass_BH]

Hi all,

Please mind my English if i said something wrong.

I have a problem in my whippled marauder which I have no idea what is wrong. If i drive the car the voltage will be 14v and then it will drop down from 14v to 11v if i slow down for a speed bump ( it shutters as if it want to shutoff). I changed 3 alternators already, 2 stock amp and 1 220amp from DB ELECTRICAL, and the same problem is there. When i start the car at idle the voltage is 14v for 15 minutes then it will drop to approximately 12v, if i hold the window switch the voltage will drop to 11v. When i fixed the 220amp alternator i fixed with it a bigger wire with 120 fuse, but that got melted down!!

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190406/01466d07c740fe3d11a9e07b1d0929 9a.jpg

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190406/1fcdb914ddc0520860a0d433da29a9 3e.jpg

Can anyone please help or guide me on what to do?? I really want to enjoy the car but i cant since this problem is there.

I appreciate your help and guidance.


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[minimarine09]

You need to trace the entire length of that power wire that is melting, look for any pinched / chafed/ exposed wiring. I bet it's grounding out somewhere, make sure it's not getting burned up by the exhaust too

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[Spectragod]

I would never recommend audio store wiring or a fuse for a charging circuit, that fuse holder looks as though it had a thermal an melted.

Using a DVOM, I would check your wiring from the battery terminal to the starter and to the alternator for resistance, common issue, and your factory wiring is at least 14 years old.

I would also check the battery for state of health, state of charge, also, the factory alternator is only designed to charge lead acid batteries, not deep cycle, or AGM, I added that because you didn’t say what type of battery you were using.


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[jass_BH]

You need to trace the entire length of that power wire that is melting, look for any pinched / chafed/ exposed wiring. I bet it's grounding out somewhere, make sure it's not getting burned up by the exhaust too

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That wire is coming from the alternator to the positive side of the battery its not grounding anywhere i did check that. And its far from the exhaust


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[minimarine09]

That wire is coming from the alternator to the positive side of the battery its not grounding anywhere i did check that. And its far from the exhaust


Sent from my iPhone using TapatalkWhat gauge wire did you use? Also, is it pure copper wire ? Or is it the copper clad? (or whatever the name is)

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[jass_BH]

I would never recommend audio store wiring or a fuse for a charging circuit, that fuse holder looks as though it had a thermal an melted.

Using a DVOM, I would check your wiring from the battery terminal to the starter and to the alternator for resistance, common issue, and your factory wiring is at least 14 years old.

I would also check the battery for state of health, state of charge, also, the factory alternator is only designed to charge lead acid batteries, not deep cycle, or AGM, I added that because you didn’t say what type of battery you were using.


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The wire i used i sold by DB electrical for alternator use

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190406/3da1e12dadf1f3b42031140143c6ce c5.jpg


I did change it to this brand and the same voltage drop is there.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190406/1bf9c801fecfe735ab7ae97e625775 5a.jpg

I need to check the resistance from battery to started and to alternator.

As for the battery its a motorcraft battery.


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[jass_BH]

What gauge wire did you use? Also, is it pure copper wire ? Or is it the copper clad? (or whatever the name is)

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Check previous reply, these are the wires i used.


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[sailsmen]

Check the battery terminal connections. Post a picture of them.

[Chi Stallion]

I can most likely bet the positive wire to alternator melted because you put the wrong amp fuse. If your alternator puts out 220 amps then get a 220 amp fuse. Here’s my Big 3 setup had it for 7 years almost 100k miles no problems.

The Big 3 setup consists of

Positive Battery to Alternator w/ correct fuse
Engine block ground to negative battery
Body chassis ground to negative battery

Here’s my setup which I also have stinger battery terminals (which I highly recommended) and Stinger 0 gauge wires

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190406/03ecd3e09e0ff50ef28582347589a9 f4.jpg

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190406/ff64594994ae10ecce575f988b02d1 14.jpg

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190406/e07c4039385d858a1ce74177619789 42.jpg

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190406/d713667671f92c9fd4669b50482b20 06.jpg

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190406/467b9549557a3ecfe023b637a17841 b9.jpg

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190406/78fede032242b3b792c1d84c06b6fd 57.jpg




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[decipha]

I have seen a corrupted tune cause the alternator to not charge correctly and since our alternators are ecu controlled I also seen a bad tune discharge a perfectly good and new battery in about 30 seconds. Did this just start happening recently or did it by any chance occur after a tune or tune revision?

[Spectragod]

The wire i used i sold by DB electrical for alternator use

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190406/3da1e12dadf1f3b42031140143c6ce c5.jpg


I did change it to this brand and the same voltage drop is there.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190406/1bf9c801fecfe735ab7ae97e625775 5a.jpg

I need to check the resistance from battery to started and to alternator.

As for the battery its a motorcraft battery.


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The battery could be bad, motorcraft or not, do you by any chance have under drive pulleys on the car? Also, it is possible that the tune is the issue.

Obviously, figuring this out over the internet will be tough, but... a few things..

When did this first start?

Prior to the S/C did it charge ok?

Did anything happen along the way that may have caused this, I.E. damaged wires from an animal, a wreck etc.?

How old is the battery?

Did you check the ground to chassis, ground to engine, ground from engine to the car?



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[jass_BH]

Check the battery terminal connections. Post a picture of them.



https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190407/7bbf53f073f3e4c877af9675a4322b 78.jpg

Thats the battery and its terminals.



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[jass_BH]

The problem is not only the melted positive wire. The problem is with the voltage drop that i cant find a solution for it. But thanks for the pictures of your setup i think ill do the same, maybe that can help with the voltage drop.


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[musclemerc]

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190407/7bbf53f073f3e4c877af9675a4322b 78.jpg

Thats the battery and its terminals.



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The picture says it all........ Start where the original wiring started on the PS of the car. Check every crimp, connection, etc....

If it were mine I would replace all wiring from the fuse block to the new location on the DS.

Major hackery.....

[RF Overlord]

Get rid of those "lumps of lead" terminals. I had all kinds of electrical gremlins on my 2000 GMQ because of them. Installed proper band-style clamps like the factory used and all my issues disappeared.

[justbob]

The picture says it all........ Start where the original wiring started on the PS of the car. Check every crimp, connection, etc....



If it were mine I would replace all wiring from the fuse block to the new location on the DS.



Major hackery.....



Yup! I agree, go back to the passenger side and start untaping.. Check every connection over, use a multimeter to check every one and look for any rubbing in the new route they chose. I bet you’ll see nothing but voltage drop the farther you get from the battery and quite possibly somewhere it rubbed thru and at times grounding out.

I myself like to find the root cause when possible before going forward.


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[jass_BH]

The battery could be bad, motorcraft or not, do you by any chance have under drive pulleys on the car? Also, it is possible that the tune is the issue.

Obviously, figuring this out over the internet will be tough, but... a few things..

When did this first start?

Prior to the S/C did it charge ok?

Did anything happen along the way that may have caused this, I.E. damaged wires from an animal, a wreck etc.?

How old is the battery?

Did you check the ground to chassis, ground to engine, ground from engine to the car?



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Prior the S/c it was okay, even after i installed the S/c it was okay. The problem started almost 2 years ago, i had a tune revise from a well known tuner in Kuwait. The car was perfect for 5 months or so, suddenly the alternator stopped working, so i changed it and bought a new one from the agent. Since the day the alternator died the problem started. I changed the alternator, batteries ( motorcraft, obtima ) still same problem.

I guess i need to check my full wiring as everyone is saying.


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[jass_BH]

I have seen a corrupted tune cause the alternator to not charge correctly and since our alternators are ecu controlled I also seen a bad tune discharge a perfectly good and new battery in about 30 seconds. Did this just start happening recently or did it by any chance occur after a tune or tune revision?



I do have an SCT pro racer software, do you know which parameters i need to check in the tune ??


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[RubberCtyRauder]

Is the replacement alternator a 4G alternator? Crown Vic ones are not the same..

[jass_BH]

The picture says it all........ Start where the original wiring started on the PS of the car. Check every crimp, connection, etc....



If it were mine I would replace all wiring from the fuse block to the new location on the DS.



Major hackery.....



Ill do that [emoji1360]


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[jass_BH]

Is the replacement alternator a 4G alternator? Crown Vic ones are not the same..



Yes 4G


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[jass_BH]

Yup! I agree, go back to the passenger side and start untaping.. Check every connection over, use a multimeter to check every one and look for any rubbing in the new route they chose. I bet you’ll see nothing but voltage drop the farther you get from the battery and quite possibly somewhere it rubbed thru and at times grounding out.

I myself like to find the root cause when possible before going forward.


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I will do that and check from the passengers side were the connections started. [emoji1360]


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[minimarine09]

Also I would check /clean your grounds. A sudden raise in resistance will cause excessive amperage draw.

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[jass_BH]

Also I would check /clean your grounds. A sudden raise in resistance will cause excessive amperage draw.

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I’ll change all wiring and check if that will help.
I’ll do the big3 upgrade also to help cater for the 220 amps alternator.


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