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Some history is in order here: The day I test drove this truck, the transmission mount took a dump, allowing the engine to rotate, which caused the fan to destroy the radiator. Did I take this as an omen? Of couse not, just used it as a bargaining chip to get another $200 off the asking price. So, one repaired transmission mount and $40 radiator later, I had it running like a trooper. So I decided to leave my nice reliable Dodge Avenger at home and take my truck on the 2 and a half hour drive to Iowa City. I left home at 8 pm, and remember thinking, "Wow, the headlights work really well for being sealed beams in an old Ford truck with a crappy electrical system." (note: a personal dogma of mine is that all old Fords have crappy electrical systems; this is based on the fact that before I owned mine, I had rewired 3 from the same vintage....) That thought would prove to be prophetic as, halfway to my destination, my whole electrical system took a major dump, in the pitch black night. I tested the fusible link for continuity and determined that it was burned out, so I replaced it with straight wire, hoping that was my only problem and my alternator would still work. So a nice gentleman stops and gives me a jump start, but alas, my alternator still would not charge. It too, was toast. So this guy escorts me to the nearest town and takes off. I keep the truck running and check all of the wiring while constantly monitoring the voltage, which I was seeing drop from around 10.5 all the way down to about 8 volts..... finally, I went to sleep in an auto parts store parking lot. I work early every morning, so I woke up at 5:30 out of habit, and discovered that the parts store didn't open till 8. Not wanting to wait that long, I check my battery voltage and found that my battery had put out a valiant effort over night, bringing itself back up to around 11 volts. I figured if I didn't use any lights (including brake lights or turnsignals) I could make it the rest of the way to Iowa City with just the ignition system needing power, so I rolled it out in the street, dumped the clutch (thank you manual transmission!) and was on my way. An hour and a half later, I made my destination, just in time since it was now misfiring constantly from the ultra-low voltage. I wound up replacing the alternator, regulator, battery (I finally killed it) and all associated wiring, and haven't had a problem since. That whole experience also prompted the gauge installation. Wow, that was long.
The above pictures are from the day we towed my truck home after KO-ing the radiator. Note the broken connecting link.....
email-> ben@wantlandracing.com
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