unit505

94=96 use their very own 3g. The other car 3g alt's won't fit.
here's the 94-96 4.9 3g

dr_bowtie

the 130amp 3G DOES fit a 4.9l... the bracket excepts BOTH styles... you cn see that the bracket has both bolt holes on the top and there is 2 bolt holes on the bottom... you dont use either existing hole...The smaller Alt has offset ears and the larger has ears on the top and bottom...

unit505

We know that. Difference is, the 94-96 4.9 uses another style 3g. Look up alternators for a 95 4.9l and you'll see the difference in the 4.9 alt. Or just look at the top of the page. Much taller ears and a different base than the sedan 3g. I know for a fact since I have the sedan 3g sitting in front of me and a dozen parts stores that verify that the 94-96 4.9l use a specific style 3g.

unit505

Spent an hour at the salvage yard this morning and finally found the "Tall Eared" 3G 130 amp alternator that fit's the 94-96 4.9l alternator bracket.......I think. It came off of a 91 town car. Soon as I finish my late breakfast, I'm going out and tackling this yet again. I've got a funny feeling that I'm going to have to do a belt swap though. Probably going to need a belt an inch longer than stock. If so, I'll have to put this project off another week or two. Gotta try and buy a windshield before the end of the month for inspection. Wish me luck and I'll report back in a couple of hours.

unit505

Success - 3G 130 amp alternator installed and the only mod required was trimming the "Charging Wire" connection isolator. Here's what I've found on my project.......
1. 94-96 F-150 - According to the parts books - Come stock with 3G alternators- usually 95 amp
2. My 95 4.9 has a 4 hole alternator bracket. The 95 amp uses offset ears and mount to the inside holes closest to the driver's side of the engine. The 130 amp uses the two outside holes closest to the battery and the ears are top and bottom. The '95 4.9 uses the taller ear 3g 130 amp. My '94 5.0 uses the side mount alternator regardless of amperage. The side mounts are readily available in the salvage yards on allot of smaller front wheel drive Ford Sedans. I found the tall eared 130 today in an E150 van, a Mercury Sable 3.8l and the one that I got my alternator out of was a 91 Lincoln Town Car with a 5.0.
3. The short Eared 3G alternators in the T-Bird, Taurus and some other front wheel drive Ford sedans will not fit the 94-96 4.9 alternator bracket. They are too short!
4. The parts stores carry the 3G 130 direct bolt in alternator for the 94-96 4.9 for anywhere from $100-$250. I picked mine up for $12, had it tested at autozone and it tested good and took about 20 minutes to install.
5. The 94-96 F150's should all be direct hook up with no wiring mods necessary as they all appear to carry the 3g style alternator from the factory, usually in the 95 amp variety.

Here's the installed alternator......


This is my old 95 amp alternator I'll use for the example of the isolator that i had to trim with a dremel tool to get the charging wires connected. The trimming took about 5 minutes.


Results........Engine running, headlights on, Radio/Amp Cranked up, Blower Fan on High, Two 55w work lights on, and I maintained 14.3 - 14.6 volts. When the electric fans kicked in, I dropped to 13.8v for a split second and jumped back up to 14.1 volts and the alternator maintained it all. I don't expect this alternator to last for long, it was very dirty and covered in grease. I wiped it down, blew it out and installed it. I couldn't find an alternator as clean as what I had, but again, it tested very well. The stock belt is long enough and does not over extend the idler pulley. The wiring reached far enough that I did not have to clock the alternator to line up the electrical connections. We'll see how long this little jewel lasts. I love the fact that this is a direct bolt in on the 94-96 model 4.9's and should be on all 94-96's with the stock 3g alternator if you can find one with the correct mounting options. Have fun, good luck.

Warlockk

Great write up. Do you know what the difference is in the earlier ( 90 ) 5.0. Does it have the same mount.

unit505

No. 94-96 only as far as I have found. However, Sean has the 94-96 bracket on his 87, so the bracket should swap. Maybe another $5 at the salvage yard? You'd have to do the wiring mod on pre-94, but at least no bracket shaving.

Warlockk

Cool. Wiring shouldn't be a problem but I.don't really want to grind away at a bracket.

dr_bowtie

the only thing you have to watch out for on the 4.9L is that it is Facotry under-driven due to the smaller crankshaft pully... this under-drives the alternator at idle speeds and with a load the alternator will overheat and start to decharge..... there is no way around it and the larger the alt used the more the issue is complicated...

unit505

I understand what your saying, but there were stock 130's on some 4.9's. I watch how much I draw at an idle and have found that problem on other vehicles. I hooked up a manual throttle adjuster on previous cars and may look at at doing the same for my setup. Throttle cable hooks up under the dash and has a large red **** that you turn to bring rpm's up like for running a pto. Basically a manual high idle switch. We got ready recently to install one on my buddy's f250, but found that it had a set of factory wires in the dash. Threw in a switch and had high idle. That was pretty cool! What rpm range do you think would safely deliver the amperage? I'm guessing 1500-1800. My old setups were used when I was running 1000w plus cb amplifiers sitting at key down competitions. My 4 cylinders required high idle, but my old 350 with a 300amp diesel alt would work fine at idle.