W-T Ground wire mod - Informational warning

[Mopar1973Man]

When your buying ring terminals for the alternator don't go cheap and buy just larger crimp rings. Make sure to get a good copper ring for the alternator lead. I thought yesterday my alternator quit being the circuit breaker didn't trip neither did the fuse for the field wire. I kind of messed up yesterday and was trying a pop a rib out yesterday so I asked Mark to swap out the alternator with our donor truck here. He started pulling my alternator off and the charge lead fell off. The ring tore on one side and the rest of the ring wasn't strong enough to hold the current and poof! It melted and opened the circuit for charging. 

 

I highly suggest using copper terminals and good quality terminals that can handle the high current. 

[Doubletrouble]

 I used copper and soldered the ends on. I didn't want to trust that much current through an aluminum crimped terminal.

 Glad to hear the alternator didn't crap out on ya.

[Mopar1973Man]

I have to admit I bought the typical ring terminal to fit. Mine was more of a thin plated copper. Then solder the ring terminal on. The issue was being thin copper it just tore. The replacement is much thicker which is automotive style either crimp on or solder on. So then like the saying Dodge makes it and Cummins shakes it. The thin copper ring gave up.

Edited December 18, 2023 by Mopar1973Man

[JAG1]

Thanks Mike for this information. I'm going to look and see what I did to both my 2nd gens on this electrical mod.

 

Taking today to work on both since the 01 Raptor lift pump also needs changing out. The Raptor 150 went 75,000 miles, still holds enough fuel pressure but, has bad bearings that are grinding under there.

 

The 02 I made a mistake and left the ignition on for over a week, ran both batteries stone dead so I have to replace both batteries.

Edited December 18, 2023 by JAG1

[Mopar1973Man]

1 hour ago, JAG1 said:

The 02 I made a mistake and left the ignition on for over a week, ran both batteries stone dead so I have to replace both batteries.

Dude!?!? Really??

 

Yeah I've done that a time or two being my ignition lock the key can be pulled out in any position. So yo end up sometime hitting ACC and pulling the key out.

 

As for the Raptor being its not typically prefiltered before the pump and the pressure regulator is re-directed back to the inlet makes a good way to create caviatation.

 

Edited December 18, 2023 by Mopar1973Man

[JAG1]

23 hours ago, Mopar1973Man said:

Dude!?!? Really??

 

Yeah I've done that a time or two being my ignition lock the key can be pulled out in any position. So yo end up sometime hitting ACC and pulling the key out.

 

As for the Raptor being its not typically prefiltered before the pump and the pressure regulator is re-directed back to the inlet makes a good way to create caviatation.

 

Hey I'm 72, I am entitled to new batteries once in awhile

 

Both trucks have a prefilter water separator with a petcock drain .

 

Got the lift pump changed out just before dark yesterday. Back to using my Raptor 100. Truck seems to have smoothed out in running at idle for some reason. I am now running a lower fuel/idle pressure at 10/11 instead of 19. We'll see what she holds getting on the freeway.

 

Does a raptor lift pump run cooler and have less air entrainment or cavitation at lower fuel pressures?

 

Dang I had the hood open and forgot to check what terminals I used on the alternator.

 

 

Edited December 19, 2023 by JAG1

[Mopar1973Man]

27 minutes ago, JAG1 said:

Does a raptor lift pump run cooler and have less air entrainment or cavitation at lower fuel pressures?

 

 

No Raptor Lift Pump tends to run hotter being there is no return leg to the tank so the fuel recirculated from the output to the input will cavitate and then since it never returns to the tank the percentage of recirculated fuel is heated from being pumped over and over within the Raptor pump without returning to the tank.

 

The Full AirDog 100/150/165 resolves all those issues completely. Since there is a return line to the tank any fuel that is being bypassed is returned to the tank. The air entrainment problem is resolved in the AirDog being there is a straw inside the filter so air rises to the top and is returned to the fuel tank. The fuel where the straw pulls from the bottom of the filter is air-free. Since the fuel is recirculated multiple times through the inlet and back out the return the fuel is polished in a multipass setup because of this. AirDog lift pumps will always last longer than a Raptor series, they run cooler being they do return to the fuel tank, fuel is cleaner, and less wear on the pump being there is a prefilter before the pump and the fuel is polished where a Raptor can't do any of the above. Like even on my truck the AirDog is pumping from the main tank area so the fuel is always cooler than stock by nearly 40 to 50 degrees cooler in the summer vs a pump like Raptor and the DDRP is worse being there is no return just like stock. 

 

Raptor is just a bigger GPH flow of the stock lift pump with the same issues as a stock lift pump. The Carter stock lift pump was a 60 GPH pump with 7mm banjo lines. Raptor could be 100/150 GPH but depending on the kit and setup it could be just as bad as stock being a lot of people believe in pump from the stock sender basket. This is BAD! All that returned fuel from the injectors is heated to the temperature of the head and returned to the sender basket and then pumped up with a Raptor pump with no return so the Raptor heats the fuel more with its recirculate and now feeds hot fuel to VP44 and wonder why the PSG fries easy. 

 

Honestly, for most people, I would never even suggest a Raptor or similar pump because of these issues. Remember I always look at the long-term and longevity of how parts are going to affect the life span of other parts. Sadly Raptor series is missing way too much to make it an option I would even consider.