[DeTomaso] Charging System Problem FIXED

[Steve Hawkins]

It may also depend on what the weather is like wherever he lives.  What
radiator do you have in your car?  Is your engine stock?

Steve

-----Original Message-----
From: detomaso-bounces at realbig.com [mailto:detomaso-bounces at realbig.com] On
Behalf Of Mikael
Sent: Sunday, October 09, 2011 8:41 AM
To: 'J. Sean Keane'; 'Pantera List'
Subject: Re: [DeTomaso] Charging System Problem FIXED


Sean, great you got the charging fixed. 

Question though, it sounds like your radiator fans are on almost all the
time? I don't think they should be, as opposed to the A/C fan that has to be
on all the time when the A/C is used. The radiator fans on my Pantera are
rarely on, one is thermostat driven and comes on occasionally in stop and
go, the other one is turned on via a switch by me if the car gets too hot,
hasn't happened yet. So why am I writing this, it's because if you have to
have the fans on that much, I think you have an underlying cooling system
issue, that's currently being compensated by having the fans on, instead of
being corrected. That may mean your engine runs too hot and for sure it puts
a strain on your charging system.

Sorry to be a pain, especially when the heading includes the word "FIXED".

Mikael

-----Oprindelig meddelelse-----
Fra: J. Sean Keane [mailto:jskeane6 at gmail.com] 
Sendt: 8. oktober 2011 19:43
Til: Pantera List
Emne: [DeTomaso] Charging System Problem FIXED

I finally figured out why my charging system wasn't working properly. A
little while back, my Pantera started overheating. It had an after-market
radiator, but it was old and wasn't working well any more. 
I had a local shop replace the radiator with one from Ron Davis Racing. 
They also replaced the fans with newer, better units.

Those fans apparently draw a lot more current than the old ones. I almost
always have the AC on, which causes a significant current drop on the
ammeter (I couldn't figure out why at first, then it hit me: the AC
condenser fan). The bottom line is that the 60-amp alternator (the more
powerful of the two that are easily available) couldn't cope with the load.

I had a local specialty shop rebuild the alternator to a 95-amp model for
about $85, and that has cured the problem. Now, when I rev the engine up
with the radiator fans and AC going, the ammeter actually goes into positive
charging territory instead of barely getting above zero. 
I've driven it a fair bit this last week, and it hasn't stranded me anywhere
or hesitated when starting. This is new behavior, at least since I had the
radiator work. Problem solved!

Regards,

Sean


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