Upgrading 3G on 83'/ Use 4 gauge wire?
 

I am planning on installing a 3G alternator and some have mentioned to use 4 gauge wire and a 125A fuse but most have said not to with an 83' that has an external voltage regulator. Has anyone done this conversion on a year close to 83'? If you used 4 gauge wire where did you connect it? Thanks.

I don't have an 83, but mine is a 87. I did use a 4 gauge wire, with a 150 amp inline fuse. I recommend getting the wire from a stereo shop. I'll check this evening to see how I hooked mine up and get back to you.

How did you hook everything up. My battery is in the back and I just compared and it looks like I have 1 or 0 gauge wire from the battery. I am not sure what I have from the starter to the alt. yes though. Thanks.

I check, and I have the 4 gauge wire ran from the positive side of the selenoid to the screw-on lead on the back of the alternator. Make sure you use a 150amp inline fuse as well.

Also you have to do some modifications to one of the 2 original plugs that went into your 75amp alternator.

The easiest way to do this is look for the D shaped plug, leave that plug as is. And as for the other big plug, you have the cut the little white wire with a black strip on it, and the other (2) black wires with green strips need to be taped up. You have to get the little grey plug from either a parts store or junk yard to be able to use the white wire with black strip.

So the only plugs that go into your new alt. are the D-Shaped plug and the white/black wire. Don't forget the 4-gauge wire that mounts on the back of the alt. Hope I explained it well enough.

I have a 1990 LX that was modified to use a 130A 3G alternator. I have gone through two 130A alternators and I have the same exact problem. The problem that I have is that at idle, the alternator doesn't seem to be providing enough output. When I have my lights on, the ammeter gauge on my dash points to the lower-normal range. If my stereo is on, then it dips even lower. When I am cruising at highway speeds, the ammeter needle points to mid-normal. Shouldn't it point to upper-normal? Can this be a battery issue? The battery is a couple of years old but it _does_ start the car up fine. Can this be a voltage regulator issue? It's just hard for me to believe that the voltage regulator in two different alternators can be bad. Could it be a bad solenoid? I even upgraded the wiring to 4 gauge and bought a brand new D connector but still no success. Any help is greatly appreciated!