[DeTomaso] Do I own a Pantera or a Gremlin...?

[Christopher Kimball]

If my semi-incoherent ramblings about my '72 Pantera become tiresome, please 
let me know and I'll stop!

For those of you who have offered help and advice to me, however, I thought 
it only proper to give you the latest update on my car, and what might have 
been (another) misdiagnoses on my part concerning the "burning clutch."

In my last report, I described a loud screeching kind of sound that emanated 
from the engine compartment along with a significant amount of acrid smoke.  
I immediately pulled over and shut down the car, assuming it was my clutch 
(since I had heard the sound a few times before, briefly, when just starting 
the car and releasing the clutch).  When it happened I waited a few minutes, 
re-started the car and limped home fearing my new Centerforce clutch was 
ruined.

Well, last night my mechanic stopped by after he got off work to assess the 
problem.  He said new clutches often need to be adjusted after a break-in 
period, and perhaps it had gotten out of adjustment, was slipping and could 
simply be readjusted to the correct specs.  When he had me start the car, he 
heard a bit of the intermittent screeching noise but when he had me depress 
the clutch pedal, it didn't seem to make any difference.

He wasn't convinced the sound was even coming from the clutch, but he 
adjusted it to ensure the free play was correct.  He had me drive it around 
the cul-de-sac and it seemed to work fine.  He said it should make it to the 
shop OK and asked me to bring it by the next morning.

So this morning, on the way to the shop (with no detectable screeching 
noise--who knows why not), all of a sudden the ammeter needle began to 
wiggle just before dropping to the far left.  "Oh great," I thought, 
"another gremlin."  I had visions of the entire electrical system going 
south, or maybe the new alternator had failed...

I continued on and made it to the shop, where I left it, and later my 
mechanic informed me the alternator belt had broken!  He had yet to 
determine why, but all of a sudden I had a thought; "What if all the smoke I 
experienced was the belt burning and not the clutch?"  That would explain 
why the car always seemed to shift OK and the clutch pedal never really felt 
odd.

I'm not sure why, before the big meltdown, the screeching would seem appear 
just as I was shifting into first gear, however.  Could it be the higher 
revs affected the belt in some way, causing it to slip or bind?

I hope I'll know more tomorrow.  In the meantime, I'll have to be content 
owning a Pantera with a few AMC genes!

Sincerely,

Chris #2813