Has anyone installed a high output alternator on their 7th gen? If so what brand? I'm looking at Js alternators due to the fact they're 1 of only a handful that make one for this car. Just curious if anyone has done this. Thanks

 

Well, you already know about my DC Power Inc alt, but I would have gone with JS if I didn't want the DC's milled frame. JS cost less than DC also. Plenty of them out there in the car audio world.

 

Yeah I'm going to eventually go with the JS alternator. Gotta wait a bit financially. My head unit replacement shows up today. Hope before 3 so I can install it today. Just ready to be done messing with the car. New motor, stereo system, ugh...just wanna drive n enjoy it. When I'm done installing and cleaning it up today I plan on taking some pics. It's nothing crazy but still pretty cool system.

 

Are you dropping voltage?

 

Not bad. Never below 13.1. But my new Skar evl 12s are 2500 watt RMS and my amp is 1500 watts. I would like to go bigger at some point. That's when the new alternator will come into play. I do want to go to a stereo install store and have them check everything out. Make sure I did everything right and that everything I installed is doing what it's supposed to. When I got the new motor at Nissan they put the factory wire on the alternator first than the 1 awg wire on top of that. Everything I've read says to reverse it. I'm going to have them do a once over on the engine before my drive out of town, may have them switch the wires. That does matter right? Aren't you supposed to put the 1 awg wire on the alternator post first than the factory wire?

 

It's a 3 wire alternator. Two in the harness connector and the B+ post wire. Doesn't matter the sequence of installation. I'm not really sure what you mean by one wire on top of the other.

 

The factory power wire from the alternator to the battery. When doing the big 3 upgrade one of the upgrades is that wire. Not a replacement, an add on. So on the alternator post the order should be 1 awg power wire then the factory. No one ever says why the 1 awg must go on first, probably to use it as the primary source of power to the battery, but every video does say it. Right now mine is reversed. I'm actually at Nissan now for a 7:30 appointment for that inspection on the engine. I'm going to ask them to reverse those 2 wires. Luckily the mechanic here know about the big 3 upgrade. I just want everything right man. After all the work I did installing the wiring, batteries, etc I want it hooked up right.

 

You're stressin again Lol. Doesn't matter how they're stacked. Mine is factory terminal under my 1/0awg cable on the B+ post. Everything else under my hood is also 1/0.

 

Lol .. yeah I know. Once I install my head unit today and then get everything checked out I'll be at ease. I just need peace of mind hearing it from a professional. It's just after getting this expensive new engine I'm a little paranoid and really need everything to be right. That's mainly why I stress. What year is your Maxima? What's in it?

 

You're fine. Get that JS alternator and a bigger amp to feed those 12's and you'll be set. Your AGM's and the stock alt will get you by for a while without any issues though.

Mine is an '03 that I engine swapped with a 2014 motor. I just finished the T-Line enclosure for a single Fi BTL NEO 15". SALT-8 to power the sub, the DC Power alt to feed the 120ah LTO battery, another 280ah LiFePO4 battery, and a whole bunch of other stuff. I'll be starting the build thread in the 5th gen section soon.

Load up with pics and post em here. I work nights, just got off. Going to bed.

 

I'm not seeing any pics...

 

THe head unit didn't show up till late . Got it in but ran out of day light. 7th gen Maximas have a defective dash issue and mine is one of them. Sticky and cracking bad. Real bad around the radio. Especially after me using it for leverage to pry on stuff I have a padded dash kit and am going to attempt to fix it. Not the whole thing. Just sides of the radio. Paint the vinyl too. I'm gonna wipe down the engine bay too and after all that......pics cause I'll finally be done. For now. Lol. So quick, hopefully not too dumb, question for you. I have a digital voltmeter and as embarrassing as it sounds I'm having a hard time installing it. My cigarette lighters are under the arm rest btw. Hard to use those id imagine. It's the voltmeter that sticks on the dash. Not a fancy one. Can I get the 12v source from the fuse box with a fuse tap? Every video just about uses cigarette lighters but mine aren't close to the dash. In other words, that long drawn out story just to ask about the 12v source for the voltmeter. Thanks man

 

Yep. Just do the same thing you did with the switched lead for the isolator. I would even use the same lead, just tap into it somewhere. Whatever's convenient.

 

Great idea! I'll just tap into the wire. Didn't think of that Well I have to unfortunately get ready for work. Ttyl

 

Pics or I'm done with you.

 

The next email you get with a response from me will be full of pics, promise.

 

 

 

I accidentally sent some twice but that's what I got. Hits pretty hard. Tuned it today with an O- scope. The $50 one on Amazon. Lol. Works great. I need to wipe down the engine bay. Figured I'd throw in all the LED upgrades and a pic of the outside.

 

Looks good! Is the rest of the stereo stock? If so, how well does it keep up with the subs? Nice work with the O-scope, which one did you use? I have this one
Good job with the grounds. Should keep noise down. May as well pull your rear-view now, it's going to fall off anyway Lol

 

Yea it aims at the back seat. Lol. Won't stay up. I used this one. It works great. The Bose speakers are pretty impressive. The volume maxes out at 50. Bose speakers didn't clip till volume 46. They don't drown out. It's definitely sounding better. I only have about 3 hours on the subs. Only gonna get better. I figure next summer I'll get a high output alternator and a bigger amp. Already asked Nissan if they'd install it for me. Said yes.

 

Right on! Lots of fun! Where does that voltage gauge to the left of the steering wheel tie in to? What is your voltage at the battery terminals?

 

Not sure at the terminals. I have another one of those voltmeters. Maybe I'll hook it into the battery. Maybe just to check. The multimeter I have sucks. I need a better one.
The one by the steering wheel is tapped into the wire coming out of the fuse box going to the isolator in back. Ground under the kick panel ran up through the steering wheel column. I also think I'm getting low voltage from my preamp outputs. The head unit manual says 4 volts but I'm having to turn the gain way up compared to when the factory unit was in. I bought a line driver but I'm still on the fence. Any suggestions?

 

Voltage at the fuse panel will show a bit lower than alt/terminal voltage, but 13.8V seems a little low. Torque shows my voltage (at the OBD port) a tenth or two lower than my battery terminal/alt set point voltage of 14.8/14.6 hot. Let's see what your voltage is at the terminals then go from there.

As far as head unit pre-out voltage, I'm not sure how they measure the specs. Meaning, I'm not sure if 4V is at full volume, half volume, or whatever. Is full volume what you tested at? I don't see how a line driver could hurt, an amplifier's output is largely affected by it's low-level signal input voltage. The higher the signal voltage, the cleaner the signal at high volumes, the better it sounds, the safer it is for equipment, it's a win all around.

 

The input sensitivity of Skar amps, according to the manual, tops out at 6V, so the closer you can get to that, the better.

 

Yeah I was assuming with the volume up it may be close to 4 volts pre out but o doubt it. I want to get a better multimeter before I hook up the line driver so I can test it first.
As far as the 13.8 if I had kept the car running it would've went up. When I'm at full tilt it doesnt go below 13.1 which I thought was ok. Ideal would be to stay at or above 14. I really need to just get the high output alternator. I've just spent too much money in the last 2 months with the new engine and all. I think that voltage is ok for now. I hardly drive the car, about 3,000 miles a year, and don't have the volume up too often. But a 2500 watt amp would be better with a 320 amp Js alternator. Lol. Aren't there battery terminals with volt gauges on them?

 

Get a DMM off amazon. Tons of good, cheap units. 13.8 would be a problem for me. Voltage should remain constant regardless how long the car runs. You might have a failing alt. You really need a voltmeter.

I have this one because it's a cheap unit with DC current (not Fluke accurate, but good enough for some stuff) I use for car stuff and I don't care if it breaks but there are many other cheaper units.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/15433671174...3ABFBM1oKD2Lpf

 

. I'm gonna buy that. My alternator is only a month old. Doesn't mean it's good, but I think I'm pulling too much power. 1500 watt amp on a 130 amp alternator is pushing it. The reason for the 130 amp alternator is the 7th gen Maximas have a lot of electronic stuff goin on. So do I have the system blasting when I check the voltage at the terminals?

 

Check the voltage at terminals with engine running and everything off (no loads). If the voltage in the photo was with system running, then that makes sense and then yes, the voltage will rise as the batteries are replenished after a full-tilt demo.

 

I had just shut it off. Car was running, but just turned the music off. Took pics, went inside. I'll check voltage at the terminals. Thanks for the help. I literally have no one to ask questions to. None of my friends are into this. I get all my info online. Sucks really. Thanks again

 

No prob. I'm no expert, but I'll help if I can. Looks like you're doing just fine as it is though. What genres do you listen to mostly?

 

Rap and hip hop, especially now. Deep down I'm a headbanger though. Big Pantera fan. Five finger too. Pantera sounds pretty good in the car. It's like I'm at a concert. Lol... How bout you?

 

Nice! A little bit of everything here man. RIP Dimebag!

 

Rex's bass during Dime's solo in "It Makes Them Disappear" is awesome. I still remember hearing that song with bass for the first time 2000. Two 15" JL Audio W3's in a Honda Passport. It was brutal. I can't wait to hear it again when my system is finished.

 

Hope you had a good Christmas. So I have a question for you. Skar has their 7 band graphic equalizer on sale for only $45. I bought it without doing research first. I'm hoping it wasn't a stupid purchase cause I don't have aftermarket mids n highs. The only thing I can hook it up to is the amp for the subs. I was thinking I could use it for the voltage output cause it's adjustable. Not sure if all the frequency ***** affect the sub output or is the equalizer built to keep the mids n highs frequency aimed towards those output( the RCA jacks on the equalizer). Not sure if I'm explaining this right. To sum it up can I use the equalizer for my setup? For the the sub? If so do I just turn down all the way, the frequencies for mids n highs. Look up the equalizer on skars website. It's the only one that comes up

 

Been working on my Maxima for 3 days straight! Today is day 4, hopefully I can get it back down on the ground. Had dinner with mom and brothers in from Colorado Xmas eve.

According to the website and the manual, the EQ puts out up to 7V! So I think your idea is fantastic. The unit is powered, so it will act as a pre-amp, bumping up the signal voltage. Looks like your sub-out Level on the front will be your gain ****, you won't mess with the Aux gain adjustments on the top of the case. And the 50Hz **** on the front will be sub tuning to some extent. You already seem to have a handle on gain structure, so I won't bore you with that, but as far as using the amp's bass **** in tandem with the EQ sub level ****, personally, I would set the EQ to clipping with the sub-level **** (on the EQ) all the way up and use the corded amp bass **** to adjust on the fly. Then you're always getting full signal voltage out of the EQ into the amp.

You're running the factory mids and highs off the head unit?

 

I edited a mixup on that last post but as it sits now is correct Lol

 

Sounds like you had a good Christmas man that's awesome. Yeah I'm running the factory mids and highs but believe it or not they're really loud. They're bose speakers and they really crank up. Almost too loud right now for some reason I think it's the head unit. What about all the other frequency ***** do I just turn those all the way down? The ***** that are for the mids and highs.

 

[QUOTE=User1;9243376]I edited a mixup on that last post but as it sits now is correct Lol.
Also I had a couple other posts over the weekend. One about a SLP resonator. And I actually forgot the other one LOL. But check them out. Maybe you'll know what I'm asking

 

None of the other ***** will do anything. Only the 50Hz **** will tune sub frequencies. I'll check out your other posts. The nice thing about this EQ vs the line driver you were thinking about is expandability if you decide to amp the mids and highs.