alternator question

[LeanBurninating]

Forgive me for creating a new thread, I could not find an appropriate one to resurrect.

My question is, I see people talking about turning off this electrical component and the other... killing the day time running lights, etc... My understanding has always been that the alternator runs continually? In fact the battery runs out pretty fast if it does not since it needs to run spark... So why would it matter if you are running more electricity in your car?

Doesn't the alternator always have the same load on the engine regardless?

[evolutionmovement]

No. The alternator's load on the engine varies by electrical demand. A well-charged battery could run an engine for up to several days of short commuting, depending on the vehicle.

[Ryland]

The alternator always turns, but it's output is based off load.

[LeanBurninating]

Ahh.. I see. Do people very often decide to put an underdrive pulley on the alternator then?

I think I might consider taking the pulley belts off my ac and power steering... is that bad? haha. Do you think it will help much?

[Ryland]

Under drive pulleys turn the alternator slower, the alternator needs to have a minimum RPM to put out enough voltage to work, so putting an under drive pulley on would only help if you have your engine revved up close to red line all the time and at that point only god can help you.
I would only recommend someone start modifying their car once they have a basic understanding of how it works, so no, I would not remove any part of your car based off anything we tell you, you need to learn if it is right for you and decide for your self if it will work.
You can also play around with the search of this web site for some of these questions you have.

[some_other_dave]

The main reason I would consider changing over to lower-draw electrical systems is for using Engine-Off Coasting. It will extend the life of the charge in the battery if the electrical bits are using less power.

IMHO, any gains from not having to generate as much power in the first place are going to be rather small.

I figure I need to work on "tightening the loose nut behind the wheel" before doing the electrical mods.

-soD

[Funny]

Ryland said it best:

"I would only recommend someone start modifying their car once they have a basic understanding of how it works, so no, I would not remove any part of your car based off anything we tell you, you need to learn if it is right for you and decide for your self if it will work."

Do a ton of research on your car. Many of us can tell you off hand what wrench size you need for half the bolts on our vehicles. CoyoteX can tell you all of his .

The point is, educate yourself on the things that will make your vehicle just that, "Your Vehicle". Having an intricate knowledge of what your car can and cannot do is imperative. Always be optimistic! "The next tank is going to be better, I'm sure of it!"
Have fun while your doing it and don't get discouraged by a bad tank, because that will sometimes help you diagnose a problem that you wouldn't have seen unless you were watching what your car was doing. Good luck and keep asking questions!

[theunchosen]

Like the guys said above, but on the same note, half of the nothing I know came from someone else telling me. . . I know you can't run my engine straight up lean because it will burn the valves up. . .I haven't tried it. . .but people tell me.

Power steering delete will see truly minimal gains. AC compressor might be freewheeling in the housing just flowing air around but I kind of doubt it.

I only delete pieces that are not functioning and I don't use. . . so the AC is gone.

Think about the alternator like a bicycle tire. If you pick the wheel up and turn it, it spins for a long time, put it so it barely touches and it stops lots faster. The ground though is Electro-Motive/Magnetic-Force and the wheel is your alt, the pedals are the belt on the engine.

Less juice you use less juice you waste. Also, it takes roughly 2x more power than the actual devices uses because the alt converts electricity at only like 65% efficiency or so(better on newer models).