Monday, June 20, 2011

Gremlins 2

It was a dark and stormy night. Well it was, last night anyway. And deep in the bowels of my old car the gremlins came out to play! Let me set the scene. It's pouring rain and it's about 2:00 in the morning. I've gotten into the car, fired it up and started my way home. Lights on, wipers on full. Then I notice the generator light is pulsing. For those not in the know the light is simply an indicator of a difference in voltage between the battery charge and the output of the generator. Or something like that. It had been acting odd all day, flashing bright with the application of brakes, kicking the brake lights on, and in general being a nuisance. This is one of two main trouble lights in the car, the other being the oil light.
So I'm sitting there illuminated only by the binnacle light and my own headlights and I'm starting to get worried. This could mean a few things. The generator as faithful readers will no doubt recall has been a thorn in my side for a bit. But with third generator and a lifetime warranty all should have been well. But that little orange light was informing me something was not. As I drove along the deserted two lane that leads to my house I tried various methods to get the light to do different things. I noticed it was not at all related to engine RPM which was startling so that means battery or voltage regulator. That pesky regulator!
While diagnosing the generator issue we briefly replaced the regulator but it checked out fine. A visual inspection reveals a fairly new unit and we figured it was good. But this pulsing and flashing does not seem right!
Now I admit I'm a bit of a hypochondriac about my car. I drive it the most, I know what it sounds like and what it SHOULD be doing. And this just isn't right.
So needless to say I made it home determined to look over what I could when I had more then two hours of sleep under my belt.
Cut to today. I pull out the back seat, poke around at the wires, figure out what is what and try to recreate the events of last night. Nothing. There is a slight pulsation but it goes away. With wipers, brakes, and turn signal on, NOTHING.
So at this time I blame gremlins until I see further evidence of the issue at hand. My battery is being charged, my generator is working. I have no idea what happened last night but I hope to not see it again. But I have a fear I will. Time to go find a donkey and a witch doctor again!

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