AeroDONamic test drives

[TopNotch]

I put one of Dodgerunner's setups on my 86 SE. Yes, the bracket does attach to the adjustment bolt, and can serve to repair a cracked adjustment arm.

[MikeMac]

Mike, I see that now in Dodgerunner's picture.  The bracket utilizes the alternator bolt that's normally the adjustment bolt.  Is by chance the pulley smaller on the CS alternator you got? 

Regarding the overheating issue:  Don may have installed the low temp fan switch that will cause the fan to come on much earlier.  Is your gauge accurate?  It should sit at the bottom of the thermometer symbol with ignition off.

There is a power pulley on the engine so I had to use a smaller belt than what Dodgerunner recommends. I picked up a new belt under warranty and will install it this afternoon.

I  haven't had any overheating issues. In Don's notes he says he put in the low temp switch which explains why the fan runs so often. The temp gauge seems to be accurate.

[Fierofool]

Someone tell me if my theory is right or wrong.

A power pulley (drive pulley) on the crank is smaller.  That means that everything it drives (driven pulley) is running slower.  Alternator, waterpump, but maybe not the AC compressor. 

Because the accessories are running slower, they arent generating or pumping as much as they should.  Water isn't circulating as fast as would be normal.  Voltage is produced at a lower voltage. 

When an electrical load is put on the alternator, like the cooling fan, the alternator struggles to produce enough voltage, lagging the motor.    If it's a high amp alternator, the drag on it would be even greater. 

[TopNotch]

Regardless of the amp rating of the alternator, the drag will generally depend on the amps it is required to generate. But if it is not a high amp alternator, and a large amount of amps are required, it will have smaller internal wiring, resulting in higher resistance, so it will have to fight that to produce the amps required. So the high amp rated alternator may actually have less drag on the system for a given output. And besides, the low amp rated alternator may overheat when it has to produce a lot of amps.
The moral of the story is, if you have a loud sound system in your car that draws a lot of amps, you should have a high amp rated alternator.

[GTRS Fiero]

Someone tell me if my theory is right or wrong.

A power pulley (drive pulley) on the crank is smaller.  That means that everything it drives (driven pulley) is running slower.  Alternator, waterpump, but maybe not the AC compressor. 

Because the accessories are running slower, they arent generating or pumping as much as they should.  Water isn't circulating as fast as would be normal.  Voltage is produced at a lower voltage. 

When an electrical load is put on the alternator, like the cooling fan, the alternator struggles to produce enough voltage, lagging the motor.    If it's a high amp alternator, the drag on it would be even greater.

The part about voltage being produced at a lower voltage...is not making sense to me.  RPM?

The power pulley is smaller, and yes, the driven accessories run more slowly.

At idle, the alternator shows low volts, but part of this is that the wrong gauge of wire was used.  Anyway, if you have a lot of power draw, you cannot use the power pulley.

[MikeMac]

I was able to get a slightly smaller belt on it. I did notice that the fan itself is a little out of round and may be hitting the shroud at high speed causing an excessive draw. I forgot to check the cooling motor in the trunk.

[GTRS Fiero]

You can just unplug the fan in the trunk.

[Raydar]

I forgot about the underdrive pulley. Based upon what I've read, here, I would be inclined to replace it with a stock pulley, or reduce the size of the alternator pulley. (Not sure how/where you would source a smaller pulley with the correct number of ribs, however.)

I had an underdrive pulley on my 3.4. At night, or with the wipers on, it always showed a drain, as opposed to a charge, when idling.
I changed the chip programming, to bump up the idle speed.

The fuel sender is supposed to read zero ohms at empty and 90 ohms at full. 
If your fuel gauge reads high (or offscale) it may be due to tarnish on the resistor wires or wiper, causing a high resistance. You might run some Seafoam through the tank to see if that helps.
When I had a similar issue, I didn't know about Seafoam. I ended up rebuilding my sending unit. 

[MikeMac]

Yeah I'm going to have to go back to stock on the crank pulley. It just isn't spinning the alternator fast enough at idle. Getting a cooling fan that runs a little better will help too. I think my fan blade is out of round and may be hitting the shroud at speed. I did replace the fan motor back when I did the temp sensor.

The issue I had several months back has returned. It would start and the die fairly quickly. I replaced the temperature sensor and it went away immediately. I guess the sensor could have failed this quickly. The quality of parts have really gone down the last 5 to 10 years.

I drove the car up to my house in Ball Ground and it ran great going up the interstate. The starting and idle issue are really the problem right now. And RFTH is what 2 weeks away?

[GTRS Fiero]

The comments with the power pulley state that the engine needs to be at a higher RPM, most of the time.

I agree about the quality of parts being terrible.

I think my CTS is also bad.

[NoobKevin]

I am chasing the idle issue when my radiator fan comes on or, my headlights. I am replacing the IAC. If that does not fix then I will start checking grounds but most research is pointing to the IAC. The IAC should adjust the idle if an electrical load taxes the charging system. Bought it off the Fiero store. Rock Auto had the same part but their delivery was too slow.

[GTRS Fiero]

When you remove the old IAC, check the condition of the pintle.  Also, be sure to use a gasket.

[GTRS Fiero]

Is this still the current status?