This is the 3rd time the alternator failed in spike in ~ 3months, I had rebuilt it twice now and it just wont last.
There is nothing in the car to draw power (other than the HIDs at night) sometimes the heater to defog for few min..

Could it be the small battery? I'm sick of this thing. What's the best alternator to throw in there, Saturn 135amps????

I'll be working onto getting a bigger battery in the back as well.
any other suggestions?

Bad wiring and grounds can kill it too..
It grounds mainly through the bracket, so make sure that's clean as a whistle.
Putting in a proper battery is a good idear

Other than that, make sure the battery has a good charge in the first place (trickle-charge overnight) and close up any exhaust leaks.

Maybe try a different place that rebuilds them, unless you bought them from three different sources.

Mines been fine for the last few years now, with no heat shields on the 02, and dump right next to it.

Only time I ever fried one was because of my own stupidity, i.e. water splashing on it, oil spilling in it, or shorting it out when your wrench accidently touches the power wire.

Would the water be an issue? Last time they rebuilt it they said the regulator burned out because of too much stress on it.

I'm confident the wiring is good, just last week I cleaned it up and heat warped them because it gets hot under the wastegate

FWIW, the wiring must be good all the way to the battery and make sure the alternator fuse isn't a problem.

Do you have your heat shield on the turbo/downpipe? That can kill the pretty quick if the soldering isn't up to snuff in a rebuild.

no, pipe and o2 dump come down right past the thing

Get a saturn alt and you will never have to install another alt again.

I posted a link a while back for a brand new saturn alt for $70can.

I'll take it..

Saturn's are 90amp, the 135amp is a myth.
Still 90 is better then the stock 65amp.

Get a heat shield on that down pipe/dump. You'll likely have to custom make one.

I'm upgrading to the Saturn alt, plus redoing all the wiring for the charging system.
Correct way to wire it: http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/cus...improvements-saturn-alternator-swap.html

Now, where can one get the alt pig tail?

Is the Canadian DSM stock 90amp a myth too?

I'll bet the flex section in your downpipe is toast.

Only JDM and US are 65amp. Anthony all Canadian units are 90 amp, because of DRL's.

You can easily get a 110amp stock replacement rebuild from a few places.

On a side note, these alternator relocation kits seem to be more prone to failure and more hassle, than just having it in the stock location.
Don't know much about the saturn alternators, but stock ones always worked fine for me.

I'm going to try and rebuilt it for the last time and throw it back in, the grounds have been redone today, all new wires and new terminals, cleaned up all the "extra" wires as well.

Noth'n beats a good rebuilded stock Alt. I've been driving on the same rebuild (90 AMPS) for the past 5 or 6 years. Thing still spits out 14.25v. Trow in a 110 and you are good to go for miles and miles.

Some Alt fail beacuse or a lack of thermal insulation from the heat generated by the Exhaust heat or because they (new Alt) is installed on a weak or totally depleated Battery. One should remember that an Alt is there to keep a Battery charged and not to recharge it. Recharging the Battery by taking a 20 mins ride around the block puts a strain on an Alternator Voltage Regulator which it is not design for; overheats it, just like driving in the summer heat with no Lower Heat Sheild.

Best is always to recharge the Battery with a Battery Charger while the Alt is being rebuilded or while taking a cruise to the local Part Store.

Hope this helps.

Ghislain.

Didn't know that.
I do know I'm having tons of issues with mine on my car. Voltage drops out the arse.