Darn Alternator Dies On Me

Posted on September 7, 2021 by Bob

Tuesday September 7, 2021 Guerneville CA.

Darn alternator is bad

I was going to do a couple things on the van then take it for another test drive to go down to Guerneville to fill the van’s propane tank,………. But.

Oh, oh

When I started the engine to let it warm up the voltage gauge was out.

Darn, it’s either a bad gauge or the alternator died on me. I  checked the gauge first and it was ok, then I measured the alternator’s output and it was dead.

I was planning to go to my brother Mike’s place in Healdsburg in the late afternoon anyway so I decided to go early and see about getting a new alternator there.

Mike’s place

So I changed into cleaner clothes and left for his place for a visit. We had a nice visit.

On to Smother’s Auto Parts

After that I went over to the parts place and they’d  have to order one and it’d be in tomorrow but I didn’t want to come back to Healdsburg tomorrow so I declined and decided to go to the big city of Santa Rosa to see Cindy at Smother’s Auto Parts as I know they’ll have what I need in stock and I can get it wholesale so I headed on down that way.

Sucky freeway

The only problem was the freeway sucked with lots of slow traffic but I was patient and made it.

Success

Cindy found an alternator to fit and I bought a couple other small things and I was on my way.

I was going to stop and visit one other person on the way home but it was after five so I drove on home.

Napa first

I wanted to get the new alternator installed before dark but a nap took over and I got started late on it.

Here’s  the new alternator.altenator

 

And here’s the old one that I had to remove from the van.oldone

 

Small problem

I needed to put my double pulley on the new one as it only had a single pulley on it but I ran into a problem there as my double pulley was built different and needed a spacer to keep from bending the fan fins on the alternator which I found out the hard way by bending the new fan blades which I’ll have to straighten out.pulleys

 

Dark

I was working on finding the proper size spacer when the dark took over so I had to quit for the day.

There’s always something good

The good thing about the alternator going bad is it’s better to have it go bad here instead of during the up coming trip.

Nice day.

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New Air Cleaner and Some Leaks Need Fixing

Posted on September 6, 2021 by Bob

Monday September 6, 2021 Guerneville CA.

Final stuff done on the van

I hoped to finish up the last stuff I need to do to the van to finish up and do a test drive today.

New air cleaner

The engine is a little naked without it’s air cleaner so I started out with that.engine

 

I cleaned off most of the smoke from the metal parts of the air cleaner and thought of painting it but decided it looked ok without the paint.air

 

There, that looks better with the new air filter installed.cleaner

 

Belly pan

After a good break I got the stuff ready to install the belly pan which is always a pain but not really that  hard.pan

 

Stores are closed today

I was trying to hurry on getting this stuff done as I wanted to go to town and get some propane. But when my brother Tom came by he informed me that most of the stores were closed for the holiday so since there was no need to go to town I slowed things up as I had all day to do what I needed to do to finish up.

Cleanup

I cleaned out the tools and stuff and sweep the carpet and put my chair back in.chair

 

Greased

After some chair hopping around the yard and a break or two I got the grease gun out and greased all the grease fitting under the van.grease

 

Fluid checks

And then I checked the fluids in the transmission and transfer case. The transmission fluid was down just a little but not enough to be concerned about.

Test drive

Around 7 I decided to take the van to town for a test drive and get some gas.

Gas station leaks

So off I went to the gas station. When I pulled into the station and got out I could see I had a water coolant leak and I  also had some oil leaking out of the transfer case rear seal.

Pain to get gas

Gas was fun when I hit their 150 dollar limit and tried to use the card again and the card didn’t like it and the next card I used I think I used the wrong pin so I had to go inside to get the cashier to do the card thing and it only took ten more dollars worth. I like to have a full tank when I leave on a trip.

Small gas leak

I noticed a small gas puddle under the gas tank by the filler too that I’d have to check out when I get home.

Back home I checked the gas leak and found a clamp that needed to be tightened up so I took care of that.

Oil drip stops

I checked the transfer case oil leak and it had stopped so I think it will be ok for this trip but I will have to replace that seal eventually.

I looked for the coolant leak and wasn’t sure exactly what was leaking so I tightened up the hose and will test it again tomorrow when I get some propane.

Things are slowly coming together and I’m getting all the problems sorted out. Some of the problems are from the old van sitting around too long because of the virus thing.

Nice day.

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