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Alternator Woes

To: mgs@Autox.Team.Net
Subject: Alternator Woes
From: Ricko595@aol.com
Date: Mon, 26 May 1997 09:01:18 -0400 (EDT)
I have been having assorted electrical problems for about a month now. The
latest variant has been that I the car is running better than it ever has.
Low temp, good power, nice idle ( a little high though ) Driving along, car
suddenly loses power and dies. Only power I have is trunk light and courtesy
light. Battery is 5 months old. When I check battery I find that it is dead,
I mean dead dog dead. Charge battery, test, everything OK. Start car,
everything OK. Check alternator, again everything OK. I fall to the last
resort of a desparate LBC owner on the first really nice day of the year... I
start wiggling ever wire I can think of trying to find the problem. I reach
down to the back of the alternator and wiggle the 3 prong plug on the back,
just a little... The motor loses 300 RPM. I wiggle it a little more... The
motor gains 300 RPM. AHA!!!!! Upon careful examination I fine that, the three
spade connectors on the back of the alternator are two different sizes, two
are 3/8'' and one is 1/4". When I check the plug I find that it has two
different sized female connectors, two 1/4" and one 3/8". Ever try to fit a
3/8" male into a 1/4" female? :) {sure you have} Why, after 20 years this
problem decided to manifest itself now is beyond me, but I ended up taking a
die grinder to that oversized male connector (ouch) and ground it down to fit
the 1/4" female. Now I have a good, solid connection and every thing is just
fine. I wrote this because even though it looks like the this thing is
plugged in, it was a very bad connection because of the difference which is
not very evident. Hope I can save someone some trouble down the line. Rick

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