[DeTomaso] Alternator blues....

[MikeLDrew at aol.com]

Hi guys,

Just got home from a terrific weekend in the Sierra foothills; 24 Panteras 
(of the 36 scheduled) took part in the Niello concours at Serrano.   It 
heaved down with rain for a very brief period, but that rain then turned to snow 
which kept the large Reno/Tahoe contingent from braving the summit.   
Still, a great time was had by all who attended, and we drove home in splendid 
sunshine.

We were driving in Lori's Pantera, which has a flat firewall kit and uses a 
GM alternator with built-in regulator.   She drove the car to Vegas this 
spring, and the alternator failed while we were there.   At first it started 
acting erratic, with the amp needle bouncing around, and then finally it quit 
and just showed a partial discharge.   Testing at the battery revealed it 
was doing nothing at that point.   We replaced it with another one, which did 
exactly the same thing and failed about 50 miles from home.

We replaced THAT one, and the third one has worked fine until today.   But 
it probably only has about 250 miles on it or so.   On the way home, once 
again, I noticed the ammeter needle behaving erratically, then it quit and 
showed partial discharge for many miles, then briefly came back to life and 
showed a very strong charge (since we had been running on battery power for 
awhile), then discharged again.

Methinks the problem is not simply that alternators are failing, but rather 
that there is some sort of fault in the electrical system.   As electrons 
are far from my strong suit, I hesitate to start diving it to it blindly.

What say all of you?

FWIW we've got a spare alternator we will be installing tomorrow, which 
almost assuredly will work just fine...for awhile anyway????

Mike
-------------- next part --------------
   Hi guys,
   Just got home from a terrific weekend in the Sierra foothills; 24
   Panteras (of the 36 scheduled) took part in the Niello concours at
   Serrano.  It heaved down with rain for a very brief period, but that
   rain then turned to snow which kept the large Reno/Tahoe contingent
   from braving the summit.  Still, a great time was had by all who
   attended, and we drove home in splendid sunshine.
   We were driving in Lori's Pantera, which has a flat firewall kit and
   uses a GM alternator with built-in regulator.  She drove the car to
   Vegas this spring, and the alternator failed while we were there.  At
   first it started acting erratic, with the amp needle bouncing around,
   and then finally it quit and just showed a partial discharge.  Testing
   at the battery revealed it was doing nothing at that point.  We
   replaced it with another one, which did exactly the same thing and
   failed about 50 miles from home.
   We replaced THAT one, and the third one has worked fine until today.
   But it probably only has about 250 miles on it or so.  On the way home,
   once again, I noticed the ammeter needle behaving erratically, then it
   quit and showed partial discharge for many miles, then briefly came
   back to life and showed a very strong charge (since we had been running
   on battery power for awhile), then discharged again.
   Methinks the problem is not simply that alternators are failing, but
   rather that there is some sort of fault in the electrical system.  As
   electrons are far from my strong suit, I hesitate to start diving it to
   it blindly.
   What say all of you?
   FWIW we've got a spare alternator we will be installing tomorrow, which
   almost assuredly will work just fine...for awhile anyway????
   Mike