high-output alternators?

[Britt Crowell]

> Well, what's kinda of strange is I did stick in a new voltage regulator 
> about 3-4 months ago.  It definitely helped, but the XM still cuts out when 
> the cooling fan turns on, especially if the HVAC is an too.
> 
> George Selby 

George,
    This sounds like a similar issue I had with my 5000tq I got from a fellow lister. It had a kickin' stereo in it, but every time the rad fan kicked in it would restart. It turned out to have nothing to do with the radio but the rad fan. The fan would only come on high. After some trouble shooting I decided it was the resistor unit that was bad and wouldn't allow the fan to run on low (like when the A/C is on) or medium. The resister unit check out to be good when measuring the Ohms so I went to take it out, and noticed that one or two of the wires running to it were a little loose. After tightening them up, fan runs on low and medium and no more radio dropout/restart. 
The alternator wont keep up with a voltage drop like the rad fan going from a dead stop to wide open, and might put undue stress on the VR too.
Possibly also your rad fan is getting ready to go out and melt down your car too, so be careful there.
Hope this helps

Britt

PS. Taka - My A8s alternator is not water cooled and the engine so far has been a delight to work on compared to all the work I've done on my type44s
___________
Britt Crowell