Alternator Troubles

This will be a short post, just a quick update for all you readers out there.

I bought a new alternator. Spent about 6 hours removing the old one, not that it was super complicated, but just about every screw and bolt took some serious beating to get loose. Put in the new one, but didn't test anything before I fully installed it. As I went to hook up the battery thinking I had just fixed all my problems, BAMM! there was a huge spark when I touched the ground strap to the body, which means we had a short somewhere. So this led to removing the alternator again, but it went much faster this time, only about 20 minutes. Once the alternator was off again I checked all the connections and adjusted where I placed the washers of the backing plate, then tested the grounding strap before I installed everything again. After several adjustments and lots of big sparks I got evertyhing installed correctly and put the alternator back in its place.

The moment of truth was next, started up on the first try and SUCCESS no alternator warning light! So off to bed we went with high hopes of driving to STL the next morning. Woke up the next morning chipper and cheery, had a nice breakfast, finished packing and got ready to go. Started up the bus, everything is still fine, backed down the driveway, still fine, put it in first and travelled about 10 feet, alternator warning light comes back on. ARE YOU KIDDING ME! So we drove the Jeep to STL.

I fiddled with the wires some more, and the belt, but no luck, one new alternator down. So I had reached the limits of my knowledge and abilities, which meant it was time to go back to the shop. After being in the shop for 2 weeks we found out today that they fixed him up good, had to replace some wiring that was the root of all my troubles. So if all goes well and stays well, ENGINE TROUBLES ARE OVER.