Alternator fun..

I have had problems with my entire electrical system for the past couple months. And have basically had it narrowed down from two diff mechanics that the altenator isnt 'powerful' enough. They have suggested getting it 'rewound' to a higher amperage. Has anyone ever had this done, or had delt with a issue like this?

Basically whats happening to the car is I have about 900w of stereo (4 speakers 2 subs) and a 8000K HID light system. And if I have either or both on (music or lights) the idle goes a little odd (sometimes drops really low to about 300rpm) and the HID lights will cut off in acceleration :disappoin , and the stereo will have some components lose power (usually speakers) meaning they just dont play/make noise :disappoin . If I dont have the HIDs or stereo on, the car runs perfectly fine, rev to 8000rpm with no prob. BTW its a B16A2 engine with whichever alt is stock for that engine. Stereo has cap and properly wired (so I'm told).
Any info helps, thanks :frown:

Yes alternators can be rewound to a higher amperage at your local alternator shop, or baught online. Yours probably just isnt putting out full capacity and needs to be rebuilt.

Yes alternators can be rewound to a higher amperage at your local alternator shop, or baught online. Yours probably just isnt putting out full capacity and needs to be rebuilt.
or it could be your battery, or your cap isn't wired correctly. that's what i would go with. and if it isn't wired right then it isn't strong enough for your system

Yeah I didn't have large enough gauge for the cap at one point, but I had it re-wired by a proffessional. Its definetly an Alternator issue because I've already tried the battery angle haha.

Do you think its better to get what I have rewound, or just get a 'new' stonger alternator? Thx

Just check prices to see, I'v seen these honda alts rewound as high as 280amps. Determine how much amperage you need then go from there.

also could be a problem with your grounds.

^That's what I thought at first too, but the HID system shouldn't be cutting out if its just the grounds. My old speaker system would cut out and eventually melt the fuse under the hood. It was a problem with the grounds there, but HID never was affected. All signs here seem to point to an overall lack of power.

I don't know how much they'd charge you to rewind your alt, but if its less than buying a whole new, more powerful one, you might as well try it. If your alt is shot in general, then you'd have to buy a new one anyway, and they should be able to tell you if its shot when they try to rewind it

Wow, okay. Yeah I have a number for a good place that does alternator work around where I live. I'll ask them how much is costs/alternator condition. Thanks Everybody. :iceslolan

Well my recommended Alternator place just told me they couldnt rewind it without it burning itself up after a week or two. Because its just too much for the tiny housing (he said the stock alt is like 60amp). So I'm going to get an aftermarket one, I need 200+ amps. Does anyone know who manufactures any? Or a store/site that sells them? THX!!

This is where i got my 175amp alt. I think they do custom ones too.

http://www.andale.com/stores/sf_home.jsp?mode=1&sfUrl=distributorking