> Outside of SLO the battery light came on. I checked the belt and it was
> fine. I replaced the battery a month ago with a 875 CCA model. So I
> pulled into Kragens in SLO and asked for an alternator. The clerk
> produced a rebuilt one and tested it on his machine. It failed.
>
Way back when dirt was young, I taught the Kepner-Tregoe Analytic Trouble
Shooting technique to mechanics in a beverage can facility. K-T's method
can be summarized by the simple sounding phrase that a problem is a
deviation from expected behavior caused by a change. The change can be
identified by looking for differences between what is actually happening and
what should be happening. The technique also discusses errors often made in
trouble shooting, one of which is "jumping to cause," i.e. making an
assumption as to the cause of the problem without much justification. Maybe
you have jumped to cause in assuming that the alternator is the problem.
Maybe you should go back to the initial "change", which was the replacement
of the battery a month ago. Why was the battery replaced? Was the cause if
its failure properly identified (if it indeed failed - you haven't told us
why it was replaced). Is the battery of the correct physical size or
electrical rating? Did something have to be done to the car to fit the
battery? As you can see, there are many potential areas for changes that
could result in the problem you are having, so it may be worthwhile running
through all the events that led up to the battery change and then thinking
about any other events that were related to that change or to the electrical
system in general that may have occurred before the light came on in SLO
(which could be the chorus of a country song...)
Michael Marr
1960 TR3A
Plainfield, IL
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