Hi All,
Well the good news is we completed another long trip this weekend and had
excellent top down weather. Went from Lansing, MI area to Madison, WI and
back. I did have a problem however and wondered if anyone can offer help.
We left Friday night the entire trip requirred headlights and the only other
thing going was the radio. After 5 hours of the trip the ignition light came
on real faint. I turned off the radio and that was enough for the light to
go off. It flickered a couple more times on the remaining 2 hours of driving.
When I stopped and turned off the ignition key the ignition light came on
bright - key off and out of the ignition. I unhooked the battery cable so the
battery wouldn't drain.
The next day I hooked up the cable and the ignition light was on all the time.
Well it was alternator time. Hard to find anyone with one on short notice but
I got a rebuilt from a Madison parts house and the car was back to charging
perfectly.
Well now goes the trip home - this time full daylight so NO headlights on and
we didn't listen to the radio the entire trip so no accessories used. Again
about 5 + hours out and we stopped for a bite to eat. When I started the car
the ignition light was lit dimly. If I got the car up to 3500 RPM the light
would go off so it appeared it was NOT charging at speeds up to 3500 RPM.
Well I finished the trip at 3500 RPM and am safely home.
When I got home I felt the alternator and it was very warm but I've never
tried touching it after a trip so I don't know if it is hotter than normal or
not. I felt all the wires from the alternator and they were fine - felt cool
so I figured it wasn't a big draw causing the problem.
Does anyone have any suggestions what might be going on? Did I just get a bad
alternator on the rebuild? The starter just went out prior to the trip so
that was new at the start also. Any help or suggestions will be appreciated.
Denny
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