HA!

Ok, so after several trips to Autozone, it wasn't the alternator. Again, they stayed consistent with not giving me the right product to begin with. I took out the alternator and found that the new one they gave me was too big. So I returned that got the right one.

I got it home and noticed that my damn battery was hissing. Then it occurred to me that the alternator has an external voltage regulator and that I should probably check that. I walked back over to Autozone, got the $20 part, installed it, and everything works fine now. I'm keeping the new alternator though. I just haven't had a chance to put it in yet. So if thing goes out (as I'm sure it will), I'll already have the correct one on hand.

Now the alternator?

Well, I think the alternator is starting to go out. At least that's the theory so far, since I haven't had a chance to check into it. I was coming home from work the other day and as I rounded the last corner, the "CHG" light came on. Since then, it still runs fine. I don't think there's any drop in power and the battery isn't dying, so I'm not sure what the deal is. It might just be yet another electrical short in the system. Go figure. =P

I started looking at Kragen.com for replacement alternators. It looks like the usual amperage coming out of them is 40-45 amps. There was one alternator on there that was 50 amps, but it was the cheapest by almost half the cost. That kinda worries me. Ehh... we'll see if it even needs to be replaced.

OEM Starter

I finally got around to putting in the starter today. Good thing I stayed home from work - it took almost all day to finish! Apparently when the last starter started shorting out and arcing badly (big sparking mess), it wasn't just the starter that fried. Apparently there is now some bad wiring between the starter and the ignition switch.

I installed the OEM starter and when I tried to start it, nothing happened. Nada, zilch. So I took it out, hooked it up outside the engine and tried again. Nothing. Then I started ohming out the wires to make sure none of its wiring harness was damaged. Everything seemed good there. When I jumped the positive lead to the battery, suddenly it worked. So there must be some damaged wiring between the starter and the ignition switch.

So in the mean time, I wired up a high amperage momentary-on toggle switch that serves as the starter switch. It works great, it's just not pretty - yet. The good news is that now I can drive my car without push starting the damn thing.