The never ending same ole story...

Well it finally happened to my baby.

I've been looking forward to this Sunday for ages. Its the first (dare I say) really nice day of the driving season here in Connecticut. The Saturday skys are cloudless and the heavens have that September Blue thats best described as a feeling rather than color. ALL the forcasters predict tommorrows going to be even better. I've spent my morning doing the spiffey. A fresh coat of the Captains best and the installation of the required fog Light shields is completed. I'm thinking about tackling that seat position issue but decide it just to nice. I fire up the 348 and roll on down the drive.

The engine is warm and the tranny temp is rising steadily. We roll together towards the downtown area to turn a few heads. The streets are alive with wannabee's staring with the peripherals. They would never be caught actually looking but I see em anyway. My baby is brilliantly smiling back with those magnificent Nero panels and strakes. we round the bend and head back towards the stable. It was just a short ride anyway. Then....The light...The friggen light... Is it easy or a real problem. Cars running fine, everything seems normal, except that friggen light.

I limp back home and open the corral. Do some initial troubleshooting and notice a issue with voltage. Battery at 12 volts with engine at rest and 12 volts engine running. Thats not right. Every wire is inspected and found to be soundly attached. No unusual smells, sounds or sights except that friggen light. I immediately hit up my sources for info. That would be youz guys. It doth appear my alternator is no longer alternating. Ernies thread to the rescue.

My baby is gonna miss our special day.

 

so sad....hope you get her back in shape soon!

 

Hold on Lane, not so fast bro.

If your battery is in the rear check the bullet connector under the air box. That thing will cause just what you are describing. One minute it has good contact, the next bad contact, and then you get the alternator light. So.........if you batter is in the rear of the car take the air box off and have a look. I fianlly go rid of the stupidass thing and ran a solid cable for both the +/- cables. I think it was something like $15- $20 for the cable and battery connectors.

Now if you don't have the idiotic bullet connectors then I say it's rebuild time.

 

Never mind about the bullet connectors, just had a look in your profile and noticed you have a SS. Looks like it's rebuild time. No worries though, a couple of hours turning wrenches, $50 in parts, and you're good to go.

 

Voltage regulator received, installed, and operating fine. Many thanks to Ernie for giving me the confidence to take this on personally. Every wrench I turn brings me a little closer to my baby.

I got the VR as a freebie to boot. A freind at another chat site happens to be a Denso Engineer. He "found" and liberated one for me. Not identical in part number but contains a very similar output. I think he said it was from a Jaguar. He sent it out slow boat from Detroit.

I found that the VR is the same as a 92-93 Camry 3.0L. Funny story. The shipping was taking forever. I went to the local Toyota dealer in the hopes of finding a VR. I figured 20 bucks wasn't gonna kill me and then I would have a spare. The parts guy checked it out and found the price to be a little restrictive. $217 for the VR alone. Being a curious type I asked how much for the whole Alternator....answer, $215. Yep thats right, 2 dollars cheaper for the whole thing. I'm not sure if it was rebuilt or new but I'm continually amazed at pricing. Coulda saved money by purchasing a brand new alternator, removing the VR, and throwing the rest out. Only in America.

 

Glad to here it's back on the road Lane.

So what was the part number of the equivalent VR from your pal? And, how did you tensioner bolt turn out?

 

I'm an ASME Consultant so I've got lots of welding buddies. A little heat and TIG wire, Vwah laa, bracket is as good as new. The Denso number removed from my Alternator was 126000-1500, the near identical replacement was 126000-1200. Here is the heat loading charts proving near equivalence. Voltage on the verticle, Temp on the Horizontal (in ºC). You can see its from a Jag, but I don't know which one.
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Perfect example of why I enjoy this site. True enthusiasts that get their hands dirty. I'm glad it worked out for you. Nicely done.

 

Hey Lane!

Fancy meeting you here! lol

Never did find out which Jaguar that was from, but when I was designing the Jaguar ones, it was circa 1998MY launches of the AJV8 engine in the XK8. So, I think with that older style connector, it would have been on any DENSO alternator fitted to Jaguars from early / mid 1990s.

Glad the VR is still working out good!

 

AH!!!!

This just kicks ass!

What are the chances of Lane's pal being on F-chat already. That is awesome.

So Dem,
As for the graphs Lane put up. By looking at them with my untrained eye it seems that the one you gave him turns on/off later than the original VR, no?

 

I have a 91 348.....Keep some extras around if you have them. I meet with Lane on Sundays at the Connecticut Gathering and his bad luck could rub off .

--Mike

 

Not Good...Perfect. Thanks a Million Sir.

For those interested, the installation was a piece of cake. From parts delivery to test ride in 45 mins and that was with the alternator out on the bench. I believe you could replace these parts without removing the alternator from the car.


Ernie...I might suggest a mod to the HOW TO thread indicating tensioner adjuster bolt information detailing tighten the bolt to loosen the belt. Loosen the bolt to tighten the belt.

 

Great idea Lane. Go ahead and post in the alternator rebuild thread. We are all a team here.

 

Both specified from -30'C to plus 135'C. The only difference is the average set point is higher by 0.1V. When you look at the actual tolerance band for both specs, which is around 0.9V across the whole temperature range, that 0.1V is really neither here nor there! So, basically no difference!

Hope that helps explain it!

 

Dem and others

I'm aware of a cheat that whould be useful in your business. It allows you to type a Degree sign on most keyboards and language sets. Keep it to yourself and look like a genious when people ask "how'd you do that".

Depress and hold the "alt" key and type "167". Release the "alt" key and Vwah La, a º sign. Works in most standard font software applications as well.

Many other cheats available. See attached PDF. (Note the typo on the degree sign, Its not 176. Tehehe)
View attachment Computer Shortcuts.pdf

 

HA! That's cool!

Check this out. Just when through the whole key board.

¡™£¢∞§¶•ªº–≠œ∑´®†¥¨ˆøπ“‘«åß∂ƒ©˙∆˚¬…æΩ≈ç√∫˜µ≤≥÷

 

Dude, when you said "degree" I thought you were offering me an educational one from a few hundred dollars! Bloody spammers........... lol
ºººÚ.

Ah! And those only work on the number pad on the right side of the keyboard, not the ones on the top row. Great info though Lane!

 

I thought the Denso alernators were fail proof. That is why I insisted on a '92 or later car. When the car arrived, there was a Delco alternator. A month later, I break down on the side of the road with a failed alternator. Fortunately, there was a starter/alternator electrical repair shop in Santa Maria that had it rebuilt in an hour for only $100. I didn't replace some sheilding so that it could cool better. No problems since.
Bee Jay

 

That would be this type of degree ¤¬, or Ÿ if the dean is female.


OoOoOohhh. Thats not right.