2.4 Volts? $384, Please!

The Butthurt Centers On My Wallet, As Usual...

2.4 volts. That's all I needed.

To keep everything in good running order, my truck's battery needs 14.5 volts coming off the alternator. Last Friday, the battery light popped on on the dashboard, indicating that something was amiss.

The guys at AutoZone were most helpful. They ran a check on the battery, and it looked OK, but when I fired up the truck to test the alternator, all I got was the automotive equivalent of a dying gasp. Dead as fried chicken.

The battery was under warranty, and since their charger was on the fritz, they swapped me a brand new battery. They then tested the alternator, and 12.1 volts was all it was cranking out. Enough to start & run the car for a couple of days, perhaps, but little things like headlights, radio, A/C drained the battery right down.

My serpentine belt was really worn, and that might have resulted in enough slippage to cause the alternator to fritz out, or it just might be a bad alternator or voltage regulator.

Or gremlins. Never rule out gremlins!

So, off to the repair shop this morning. I caught a break on the scheduling side, and there was an open slot today. In fact, they installed the belt & alternator while I waited. I took longer waiting to have the parts delivered from the supply shop!

So, $270 worth of parts, $85 in labor, and tax & assorted fees brought the total to just under 4 bills. Painful, but it could have been worse. This does put the kibosh on any trips to distant blogmeets in October, though, which annoys me greatly. It's like there's automotive gremlins that insist that my truck remains within the Houston Metro area...