September 21, 2010

Alternator update

It wasn’t the alternator….Jim found a bad wire…had another new alternator installed and cranked it up….it worked!!

The original alternator had a lifetime warranty. It came from NAPA..they didn’t have a tester.  The one he walked up and bought in Palatka, Fl came from Discount Auto. He took both to a local Discount Auto  a few days ago and had them tested…both tested bad.

When he took them back …one for a refund and one for replacement with the warranty (both stores next to each other)….he had them tested again….they both tested good.  Evidently the original tester didn’t know how to work the machine.  Oh well…we now have a new alternator…a new wire…and everything is running good again.

When Jim ran a jumper to the battery he must have been on the wrong side of the broken wire. He would have figured it out while we were on the water….but it was just too hot to mess with it, and we were low on gas for the generator. The Honda 1000 did a great job and was definitely due for an oil change when we got home.

Since we’ve been home the weather has cooled considerably…it should be nice for our next run.