hey res,

how bout an update.?

Hes on vacation I believe.

I just got in tonight. Been driving about 15 hours. We stayed just south of D.C. last night and got home a half hour ago.
I will get back to fixing the truck in the morning. I plan to run a couple more ground leads and see if there is some way to test the lamp circuit. Hopefully I will figure it out early and not waste much more time on something that SHOULD be simple.
My hope is that all of the other symptoms will go away once the charging system is working. If not, I will go on to try nissannut's suggestion.

Update:
The system seems to charge fine, even with the A/C and blower on Max, but only if the e-fan is disconnected. It seems that the new fan draws so much that the current system will not keep up. With just the e-fan running it barely keeps up. Switch on anything else significant and it begins to discharge.
I tried connecting the fan into the power circuit further down the line, between the SENSE wire and the cab. I thought perhaps the sense wire was not sensing the load because the load was connected directly to the battery, but it made no difference.
I am now looking for an e-fan that draws a good bit less than 25 amps, which is what the current one (pun) is drawing.
I will research it on the net, then see what Advance and VAutoZone have on hand. I don't want to go back to mechanical, but that is my backup plan.

quote:

Originally posted by Reserector:
Update:
The system seems to charge fine, even with the A/C and blower on Max, but only if the e-fan is disconnected. It seems that the new fan draws so much that the current system will not keep up. With just the e-fan running it barely keeps up. Switch on anything else significant and it begins to discharge.
I tried connecting the fan into the power circuit further down the line, between the SENSE wire and the cab. I thought perhaps the sense wire was not sensing the load because the load was connected directly to the battery, but it made no difference.
I am now looking for an e-fan that draws a good bit less than 25 amps, which is what the current one (pun) is drawing.
I will research it on the net, then see what Advance and VAutoZone have on hand. I don't want to go back to mechanical, but that is my backup plan.

This is intrusting.

So When I buy my winch bumper and off road lights will this "overload" my current charging system. I will also be installing a optima Blue top at the same time.

Is there seriously a big need to upgrade the stock alt.

If all your running is just an aftermarket fan and the alt cant keep up....

I ran my winch three times on the last trip. Pulling a heavy 05 Fronty Up a steep hill at 100'. I had the AC on also all day. I had the red top and stock 60amp alt. Ran my 2 100watt lights and 5 35w rock lights all night. Never noticed any strain. I started and stopped the truck ALLOT. Trunck ran awesome all weekend never missed a beat.

I do plan to add a second optima one day.

I plan on buying the ARB bumper and the Mile Marker winch that goes with the bumper from AC.

Light upgrade- I will be running 55/100W head lights from suvlights.com. 2 150W 6" off road lights and 55W driving lights.

Only off road will I run all the lights at the same time.

I'm hoping a Blue top will be able to cover all of my power needs. High output alt are very Expensive.

Update: I went a different route. I decided I like the fan that is in the truck. Considering that I may need more umph for the winch also, I opted for a stronger alternator.
I checked AC's site and quickly ruled them out. They were rediculously priced IMO.
I went with a GM 94 amp "two-wire" unit from VAutozone. They offer a 108, but did not have it in stock. I told them I was building a hot rod with alot of power accessories. That got them in the right frame of mind and captured their interest. It cost $84 with a $30 core charge.
I used the stock belt and mounts, but had to fab up a pair of drilled plates and two spacer tubes for the lower mount.
Let me tell you that THIS unit gets the job done!
I really don't understand why the stock unit didn't handle the load. I beleive it is a 50 amp unit, not the 60 amp.
I no longer have to keep my foot on the clutch to keep it running. It is still running rough at high rpm and under heavy throttle, but it was starting to do that before the charging problem. I thought that would clear up, but I suppose I will have to check the usual stuff tomorrow to get it running smoothly again. It might be a side-effect of the low voltage problem. I did unplug the coils one at a time, nissannut, but they are both working fine.

I'll get some tomorrow in daylight. A storm moved through as I was cleaning up. It may not help you, though. I have the legendary Z24, not the common-as-dirt, mediocre V6.

Yeah. All I can do is go to a junkyard, pull an alternator from a quest, and modify a bracket. All for only 110 amps. Poor me.

O.K., here is the skinny on what I did:
I replaced the stock alternator with a 94 Amp GM "2-wire" alternator. It cost $84 plus $30 core. It required modification. My simple solution was to make two plates with 3/8" holes 1 1/2" between centers. The plates offset the base of the new alternator. It also required a long bolt and nut to fit the GM base along with two spacer tubes. The long spacer is 1 3/4" while the short spacer is 5/8".
It also required a GM pigtail spliced onto the Nissan harness. The white Nissan (sense) wire connects to the red GM wire. The yellow Nissan (lamp) wire connects to the white GM wire. Battery connection is obvious. Reconnect the Nissan ground wire to the case wherever you can.
Top view:

Side view through wheel well:

quote:

Originally posted by Reserector:
I don't know if this is directly related, but the engine is running like crap. I get code 23 Hard Idle Switch. What exactly is it and is there a way to test it?
(86.5 Z24i)
It is doing another strange thing: It will die if it is in gear when I lift my foot off of the clutch pedal. The only way it will stay running is if I keep my foot on the pedal just enough to push it away from the switch at the top.

This is a separate issue. I still get the code for the idle switch. I finally found a way to test it, listed in an FSM for a later model. I checked it with a miltimeter and the switch is open-circuited. The idle switch is built into the Throttle Position Sensor that mounts to the back of the throttle body. I have one on order at VAutozone for $76.99 plus tax. It will be in Thursday.
It makes sense to me that the idle switch going bad would cause a hesitation off-idle and the intermittant need to hold my foot on the clutch pedal to break contact on the upper switch.
Anyone ever had to replace their throttle position senser? Did you have the same symptoms?

I did, but mine wouldn't idle at all. A wire on one of the injectors corroded, broke off, and welded to the throttle body. That made the other injector stick wide open, and that injector to die (can you say detonation?). It also fried my TPS sensor and the fusible link bundle. I drove for 3-4 months with the throttle cable turned up to keep it idling before I put a new sensor in.