So after getting back to the garage on that last excursion and finding the tossed belt, there's been a number of happenings. Fatica and I both eyed it up and decided that the water pump pulley 1) had a small wobble 2) needed to be shimmed forward. So, off to Summit for a new water pump pulley and also some W/P pulley shims.
While I have the belt off, I decide it would be a good time to re-clock the alternator. The terminal plug was pointing directly at the water pump, in the 3 o'clock position. The 9 o'clock position would be much better. Cutting to the chase, I accidentally touched the BAT terminal to the engine while removing it, shorting it out. I get it re-clocked and re-install it and I'm not getting any charging... GRRRR.. So I order up an alternator rebuild kit from Summit. I've now learned how to rebuild an alternator, and it's fairly simple, although I didn't do the bearings since it is essentially brand new. But after doing that, I took it to Autozone to have them test it and it failed.
I emailed Powermaster Tech Support today, and surprisingly, I got a response back a few hours later -- on the holiday. They told me to send it back and they'll take care of it. Very cool!
So, in the mean time, I figured I could put my old alternator back on. The original reasons I removed it were 1) The CS130 alternator didnt fit my Alan Grove mid-mount alternator bracket. 2) the threaded hole was stripped. So I remove the mid-mount bracket and get my old brackets out. After drilling the hole out in the alternator, I just couldn't get my tap started. I just used a nut and bolt.
So I got the old alternator hooked back up, belt tightened, the alignment looks good. I measured 12.7 volts before startup and 12.5 after startup.. UGHHHH The alternator pulley seemed hotter than it should too.
I'm starting to wonder about the wiring in my car. With the alternator still in the car, I got 0-hm resistance from the alternator BAT post to the + Post on the battery. That's good. I measured a .09v drop between the two posts. Not sure how good/bad that value is, but I think it's ok.
The beatings will continue until morale improves...
-Dave