Sometimes different trim cars get different amperage alternators, the MX6 2nd gen usually runs a 90amp alt but you can also get an 80amp alt.
Millenia alternators come in 90amp or 100amp or 110amp, I do not know the amperage rating of the alternator being installed, I only mentioned they come in different amperages than the MX6 when pointing out that although the engine is the same the alternators aren't.
If a car has A/C with extra cooling fans and automatic electrononic controlled transmission it will often require a higher amp alternator than a 5speed with no A/C.
Reasons someone would increase amperage of the alternator: a big amp and stereo, a compressor for air ride suspension, a large bar of fog lights or roof lights...
A reason to use a 90amp Millenia alt to replace a 90amp MX6 alt: The MX6 alternator died, say a remand alt cost 150$ + core charge but you have a brand new Millenia alternator and it will bolt to the MX6 block and it's pulley runs the same belt shape is inline with the crank pulley and all that is required is to figure out 3wire and 2wire and you save 150$.
I have looked into aftermarket performance alternators to run on my 1988 626GT, the old car fried alternators like they where free. During to new body rebuild I have stripped, checked, repaired and retaped every wire harness going in the car to make sure there are no electrical shorts (positive to ground). The car would only fry them when running full throttle in higher gears at 30psi boost. This lead me to believe the alternators can't handle the rapid rpm increase, perhaps I am imagining that the car accelerates so fast it kills factory alternator. Whatever the cause is I am rapidly running out of working 1st gen alternators and had to carry a spare in the trunk. Because I don't have 300+$ to spend on a universal performance alternator I installed an aluminum underdrive crank pulley on the car, this pulley is smaller and turns the alternator slower. Unfortunately it is not a harmonic balancer pulley (no rubber to dampen engine vibrations) and with 97A motor mounts you get even more engine vibration feedback through the car.
The F2T 5speed alternator is 70amps and the automatic is 80amps. So an auto alternator is a 14.2% increase in peak amperage, If I use an automatic alternator and increase it's pulley size by 14.2% I can reduce it's speed by 14.2 percent and while the alternator is spinning in mid RPM's the output should be the same as the 70amp up to X rpm when the alternator is putting out peak amps, Idle output of the alternator could be the only issue but it already is with the underdrive pulley.
Even though parts don't bolt up or plug in and despite the fact they are designed for a specific vehicle for the most part they are generally universal, an alternator is one of the easiest parts to select you only need to know your amperage requirements and pulley type or pulley center hole size (Shaft diameter) and you can custom mount it and custom wire it. A strut or spring is more complex to select, you need to know shaft travel, resistance, free standing height, coil perch clearance, desired spring rate, height travel... once the coil and strut meets all the criterias for your application you modify, customize or built the upper and lower mounting points to install it...
It is all a balance between what you want to achieve, how much work and money it takes to achieve and the alternative.
I will spend 10 hours fabricating an alternative to a 15$ part if that alternative is better suited to my needs and far more reliable that the 15$ part.
I will spend 10 hours fabricating an alternative to an expensive part if the part comes out as good or better than the purchased part and saves money.
Automotive modification and sometimes repair is a giant exercise in problem solving, calculations, research and reappropriation unless your just looking for a bolt on shopping list (parts to buy) and recipe (ecu flash/chip/program/injector size/boost pressure) written by someone else. For the Lowly MX6 1st and 2nd gen owners this recipe and shopping list does not exist, it has tried to many times over the years but never actually has. These cars where not popular enough to generate good aftermarket R&D or attract genius, knowledged tuners that showed proven reliable builds that stood the test of time. Those that seem to have the best planed builds either disappear after start up or move to a different vehicle and sell it, no one knows how they actually hold up?
I will say the 1st gen MX6GT is one of the toughest FWD cars every built and I have destroyed every single piece and part of these cars many times over. But have figured out how to eliminate each weak point with simple effective modifications (these weak points are all caused by modifications or factory unexpected driving based on design).
I believe a car should perform to the maximum of it's ability's on the worst of road, it will do burnouts or full throttle pulls over speed bumps or potholes, will run it to red line in every gear and bounce off the rev limiter in 5th for entire road trips, drive it like it's in a race and it's not my car... I think a car should be able to survive itself, which means there is nothing you should be able to do using the gas pedal or brake pedal to damage the car while keeping it on the road in the environment you drive in. There are limitations to expectations (reality) doing a one wheel burnout in a FWD car with opened or LSD diff will destroy the diff, launching a front engine front wheel drive car in the air can and probably will bend the frame rails, this could probably be prevented with structural reinforcement but unless you live in san fransico and street race on the hills just avoid jumping the car. Driver error is a different thing, riding the clutch will kill any clutch trying to hold high power. grinding gears will wear down transmission components...
So when I say something is reliable that means I can't break it to the best of my abilities (I have no fear) under the most extreme logical use (driving down a windy rough road to the best of your ability and the limit of the cars handling. But full speed though a field of culverts would not be logical in a performance FWD sedan or coup).
The only thing you get in life is time, it can't be replaced it can't be purchased, only you can put a value on it, every minute you spend and regret or don't enjoy is a minute wasted, every minute you enjoy is a minute well spent. Sometimes there is a trade off and it's almost always diminished return, for every minute you enjoy driving your modified car you have to spend 2 researching and working on your car or 3 minutes working to pay someone who works on your car. If you realize everything you learn and do increases your knowledge and skill set it becomes more enjoyable and time well spent.
Why would anyone do anything? Our society is flawed we are taught wrong and acceptance doesn't solve it. We all have our own line we won't cross of acceptability but we try to apply it to others, the purist thinks the coffee drinker is wrong, the coffee drinker thinks the smoker is wrong, the smoker thinks the pot smoker is wrong, the pot smoker thinks the coke user is wrong, the coke user thinks the meth user is wrong, the meth user thinks he's itchy and needs more meth. Who is at the top of this pyramid and who is at the bottom, the purist frowns on everyone and the meth junky frowns on no one. What if the purist is less happy than the junky. So it's always a case of how someone feels about something and not about how someone else feels about something. Reality is that no matter how pointless something seems to you the only thing that matters is how meaningful it is to the person doing it and the bottom line is it's all just killing time.
Enlightenment is not relating every situation to yourself but relating yourself to every situation.
Life gives you time, body, mind and soul, time is fixed you can become more efficient and waste less but can't slow it, body is limited by physics and the mind, the mind is limited by imagination but the soul has no limits. Irony is that humans can ace managing time, excel at improving their body, struggle improving their mind and have a hard time improving their soul.
You are it you are the 2nd gen MX6 guy at this moment and time, you are motivated, informed, share what you know... don't ask me why someone would would want to install a milenia alternator in an MX6 tell them how to do it and tell me to stick to the 1st gen forum.
