First, is there any way to tell what size (i.e., output in amperes) alternator I have? My truck has the 2.3L 4 cylinder and I was told those came with either a 40 amp or a 60 amp alternator. I also need to know if it has an internal or external regulator.

Second, because I have a power-hungry stereo system in the vehicle, I'd like to upgrade the positive alternator-to-battery charging wire so that there is less electrical resistance in the charging circuit. I want to leave the stock charging circuit intact, and supplement it with a run of heavy gauge wire direct from the alternator to the battery. The alternator has two plugs, with 3 wires going into each plug. Only two out of the 6 total wires look even remotely heavy enough to be the charging wire (about 10 gauge), and one is black with an orange stripe and the other is orange with a blue stripe.

Does anyone have any advice for how I should go about this? Would the procedure be different with an external regulator vs. an internal regulator? I was thinking that if the vehicle has an external regulator, and I ran wire directly from the alternator to the battery, it would bypass the regulator, and send unregulated voltage to the battery, which wouldn't be good.

 

It's been a while since my tech days. But the alternator is going to produce the same current and voltage reguardless of wire size. If you are relocating the battery further away I could see the need for larger gauge wire. If you find your discharging the battery hard you may want to try either a large capfor the to draw extra current from as needed, and/or a second batteryto provide the additionalstorage/capacity.

 

That's true, but with less resistance (larger gauge wire) there is less voltage drop. The stock run of wire was not designed with heavy electrical loads in mind, and while it is perfectly adequate for the stock electrical demands, it is not (or may not be) adequatefor much higher electrical demands.

It is common practice in the car audio community to upgrade the charging circuit with heavy gauge wireas part of the so-called "big three" (Battery negative to chassis ground wire, chassis to engine block ground wire, alternator to battery positive wire).