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Yesterday the idiot lights on the dash lit up first thing in the morning. I drove to work and the lights would come on and off intermittently. Got to work and immediately measured the volts at my battery with the engine idling. About 12.6. Turned off car and exactly the same. I assumed it was the alternator and just for the heck of it decided to have them test it at the auto store so I could reassure myself it was bad. It passed with flying colors. So today I put it back in bound and determined to make sure that every connection was good.
Well I accomplished two major things tonight. I dropped a nut into my alternator which now serves as a very obnoxious noise maker AND more importantly I transformed the idiot lights on the dash from being on some of the time to being on all of the time. Battery is 12. 6+ volts but it makes absolutely no difference when I start up the engine. I have to remove the alternator and pulley probably to get that noise maker nut out of there. Is there a multi meter test I can do on the alternator before I pull it out once more to see if it is doing anything? Whatever it may be doing it is not affecting the battery in any way. I have three wires going to the alt. Actually 4 if you include the blue ground wire that seems to be bolted to the engine. 2 red ones, the thickest is closes to the ground when I am standing up over the alt. A thinner one is just above it on a thinner post. A black one also comes out of the harness along with the 2 red wires. I assume that is a ground wire? I do not see any obvious place for it to go and I do not remember removing it.
The silver lining is I am getting alot of practice installing and deinstalling 240 alternators.
Thanks for any and all advice, counsel and guffaws.
Jim Lee
1987 245
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1988 240 DL
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