Hello all, On my last drive a couple weeks ago I experienced a power loss. I limped to the nearest O'Reilly. The guy hooked up their diagnostic machine and said my alternator's regulator was bad. I just replaced it 6 months ago... It was a cheaper unit and not the Bosch original. BTW the guy's name was Dino - so he was particularly happy to see my Dino! Today I finally got the car jacked up the car and pulled the alternator. I removed the nut to the starter solenoid so I could pull the umbilical chord and completely remove the alternator. A shard of black plastic material fell on me and I shined my lite up to see a small chunk of the solenoid cap had broken off. There is a small hole right next to where the that terminal is for the wires to connect (the lower one with a couple wires on it, including the one that goes to the alternator) A couple questions... 1. Can I test the alternator out of the car at O'Reilly / my auto parts store? 2. I know not having the alternator wire to the starter can bring on similar symptoms. Do I need to replace this cap? Are these available? If not, do I need to buy the entire starter? If I need to pull the starter, I am going to the gear reduction light weight version. Bambina thanks you in advance!!! Spencer
Update: I took the alternator to O'Reilly and they couldn't test it. There are specific parameters for each car they test against. Surprisingly the GT4 is in the computer for other parts but does not have these parameters, so they cannot test. Their test is geared more towards newer units that have more modern multi-pin connectors that transmit more data. They were nice though... I took the alternator in to my guy Rod at San Jose Generator & Starter who sold me the regulator for the Bosch unit. the brushes were wearing unevenly with notches - they were not making contact right. He grabbed the alternator from me and adjusted everything at no charge. Filed down the uneven brushes and cleaned all the contact points. 10 minutes and I was on my way to re install. If you live in the bay area - this is the guy to fix your electrical / starter needs. I mentioned the crack in the side of the solenoid plastic and Rod said to wrap it in electrical tape and it should be ok. If it really deteriorates further the solenoid can be replaced but as stated earlier, If the thing breaks, I am going gear reduction. Cheers! Spencer
