The Joys of Alternators

I decided since it was such a beautiful snowy morning to head out and get gas so I wouldn`t have to do it in the morning. On the way there, my stereo cut out. Odd, but that thing is like 6 years old now. So I didn`t think much of it.

At the intersection in front of the gas station the bus died. The starter wouldn`t turn over either. Sigh. I push the bus out of the intersection. The ground was so slick with snow and ice that I was pretty much just a passenger hanging from the window of the bus trying to steer it to a curb. My feet just slid. But it was downhill so I was able to steer it right into the curb. A quick check showed my battery was pretty dead. My alt must have croaked. :(

Called AAA. Must be a busy day, I was on hold 20 minutes BEFORE I got a person. Ugh. A cop came and sat with me so his big flashy lights would hopefully keep people from hitting me on the side of the road. Got it towed home finally and charged the battery. I was curious why my alt light never came on if the alt was bad. I started it up, no light. Check the voltage and find it`s 12.10v. No charging happening. Voltage regulator check first. Tests ok, but i found out why the light wasn`t coming on. The green wire was disconnected. Play around some more and find the alt is VERY hard to turn. Something inside must have seized.

I`ve never had an alt seize on me like that. Most bizarre.