Upgrade wiring help repost...please

[Guest Anonymous]

Okay, what is the procedure of adding a larger gauge wire from the alt. to the battery?

I read in someones 318i alt. conversion that if you go to a larger wire you get more charging power to the battery.

I have the 320i 65 amp alt. and have the two wires connected to the one that runs through the "sheath" that holds all the wires. Does the alt. wire go to the battery? Or does it split off somewhere in there? I really dont want to cut the cover to find out. What options do I have? Any help is greatly appreciated. TIA

[Guest Anonymous]

connected to the battery, so assuming one of the wires you're asking about is a fairly large diameter red one, it should be carrying power between the battery and the alternator.

The issue of getting more juice through the wire is usually not so much a matter of installing a larger wire as it is a matter of eliminating dirty or corroded connections - anything that impedes the flow across a terminal is going to increase resistance and reduce available power.

One of the factors that's often overlooked on older cars is that the crimped connections between the wire and the terminal end can develop resistance, as can the connection between individual strands of wire, particularly on wires that carry high current, like battery and alternator cables.

Although it can't really be checked without stripping back part of the wire's sheath, if the individual strands of wire inside the sheath are dull and oxidized, it's a pretty good bet that the inside of the connectors are too. Remember that the crimped on connectors only come into contact with the outer layer of wire strands - electricity flows across the connector to the outer layer of strands, then from strand to strand at the end of the wire at the same time it's flowing up the wire. If electricity can't get to all the strands of the wire, it's like having a smaller wire; in addition, the current uses up more of it's power fighting resistance than it should, which can affect the performance of the whole electrical system.

Hope this of some help......

[Guest Anonymous]

The wiring diagrams show a "solder point" that is apparently a nexus that feeds several circuits originating in the wire between the alt. and battery. If you want more copper between those two points, but don't want to rewire everything, why not just add a wire directly between the alt. and battery?

However, if you really want to see what is happening in that circuit, run a voltage drop test between B+ and the + battery terminal by putting a voltmeter between those two points with the motor running at ~2K RPM. If you see more than .5V, you have excessive resistance in the circuit. If not, then don't sweat it.

Chris B.

'73 ex-Malaga