Having been confined to barracks[1] with the galloping lurgi, I got bored in the afternoon. Luckily, I discovered a long lost tuit, and set off for the garage with an alternator in my hand. As it had been on the old Optimate since we returned from France, I started the old beast up. Voltage across the terminal? 11.96v, and falling. Rev it a bit - no change. Step one,; remove battery - having established that it's an AGM type.[2] Step two: remove old alternator. Simle enough. IT does make some very odd rattling noises when shaken - most un-alternator-like. Step three: Unpack new alternator - it's bigger than the orignial. I duly snip and tuck away the green wire from the old capacitor, as instructed, and set about fitting the Compufire. In summary - it's like re-installing a baby. You *know* it fits, but there's no obvious way to get it in there without breaking something. After over an hour of inserting, wiggling, twisting, and swearing, it's in. Of course, when I go to refit the first bolt, it slips out of my cold fingers, and drops down the gap between the recently located alternator, and the clutch housing. Can I find my magnet onna stick? Can I arseholes. In despair, I splosh off into town to retrieve madam. The new Michelins are a revelation, compared to the old, sown, square ones, complete with 2" wood screw. Oh well, once the bolt's been retrieved, I've only got to connect all the conneectors, refit the battery (with *two* 50A fuses, no less), and fire it up. Please don't let the bolt retrieval process be an "alternator out" job. [1] ObMil - I see Kinloss is for the chop, along with the Nimrod fleet. They only flew the MRA4 for the first time this year, 13 years after taking away the airframe. Luckily, we're also due to have two new carriers - but no planes to put on them. [MEDIA=youtube]t0jgZKV4N_A[/MEDIA] Sums it up nicely. [2] Ordinary ones will boil when confronted with a Compufire alternator, apparently.
