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!!





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


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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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[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




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



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
















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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




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



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.

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]

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.