Date: Thu, 9 Mar 2000 09:26:40 -0600
Reply-To: John Rodgers <inua@HIWAAY.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: John Rodgers <inua@HIWAAY.NET>
Subject: Re: Woody's woes (temporarily) over
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Woody, good luck with the AZ alternator. I put on three in a row from same
source, and one didn't work right out of the box and the other two failed
within 30 days. Finally had my mechanic get one and install it. Still running
7,000 miles later. Sorry, I don't know where he got it.
John Rdogers
88GL Driver
Woody Halsey wrote:
> Dear List,
>
> Those kind enough to follow my saga and lend moral and technical support
> will recall that I declared a tentative victory the other day. The Darrell
> Digitool had helped identify wiring defects as the probable cause of my
> erratic engine performance and abominable MPG. A new wiring harness and ECU
> from Bob Keezer, along with various other parts, seemed to have me happily
> back on the road after a six-month search for solutions. I drove to my
> sister's house and picked up the bench I had promised to refinish as a
> birthday present last May.
>
> But the joy was not to last.
>
> First, I noticed that the alternator bracket was loose. In fact, **both**
> bolts holding it to the block had broken. Probably as a result of all the
> shaking caused by the stumbling and terribly rough running last fall. It is
> a miracle that I didn't throw a belt or find the alternator flying around
> the engine compartment. Replacing the bolts took my smart and resourceful
> mechanic a solid hour using all kinds of specialized wrenched and more
> patience than I have at my disposal for use in an average month. As he was
> finishing up that job, we noticed that there was an exhaust leak where the
> exhaust pipe attaches to the block. The threads in the block were stripped
> and the bolt couldn't grab. He thought, "Helicoil." I thought, "Oh, I can
> do that myself." Days later, having purchased the coils, the bit, the tap,
> and looked again at the location of the stripped threads again, I said to
> myself, "No way!" Made an appointment. Took it down to George. Another
> frustrating hour later and he had ended up using a self-tapping bolt with a
> nut up by the head to shorten it (I know, I know) because there was no way
> to install the helicoils, short of removing the thermostat. He charged me
> another $25 and I was on my way. Went home. Cleaned up for dinner. Headed
> to Boston, cheerful to be at the wheel of the V'gon again and looking
> forward to a nice evening with family members.
>
> Then disaster struck again.
>
> As I was tooling down 495, I noticed that the gas gauge was plummeting --
> from full to empty in 10 miles. I concluded that a) I had a gas leak, b)
> the gauge had broken, or c) my rich-running problem had come back in
> spades! Decided I'd better pull into the garage. Luckily, I had not passed
> the exit for George's shop yet. I got off the highway and headed into
> Andover, MA. At the light in the center of town, about 2 blocks from the
> garage I stalled. Turned the key to re-start. Absolutely dead. Nothing. I
> was so discouraged I just about walked away from the vexed beast forever.
> Instead, I took a deep breath, walked up to the garage and asked Randy to
> come give me a jump start. This he did at the busy intersection and I
> proceeded to the station.
>
> Diagnosis: The alternator had given up the ghost. This despite the fact
> that days earlier it had been faithfully putting out over 13V.
>
> Questions:
>
> 1) Do alternators just die, from one minute to the next, when something
> inside breaks, as opposed to wearing out over time?
>
> 2) If the alternator was not working in the 20 minutes I was headed down
> the highway, why didn't the warning light on the dash go on?
>
> 3) Is it possible that there is **still** a problem in my wiring somewhere
> that would account for two used alternators conking out in the space of a
> couple of months?
>
> Yesterday, Randy put in the rebuilt alternator I picked up for $72.99, no
> tax, from AutoZone in NH and everything seems to work again. Any
> predictions of how long this happy state of affairs will last?
>
> Hoping some of you will have thoughts on the three questions above.
>
> Thanks for sharing my pain!
>
> Woody
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