Pauld

I took my '81 to the shop after it developed a nasty whining noise and the shop called me toay to inform me that the alternator was faulty and it was that which was making the whine.
I thought great, not too much of a big deal.

They then called me to tell me that the wiring harness was faulty and that at the worst case it would require a new front end wiring harness and fuse board at a possible cost of £2000.00 ( $3000.00 ) :eek: :eek:

They said that there was a short and the power from the alternator was being fed straight back into the alternator, thus burning it out.

Has anyone else ever had a similar problem and what was the outcome?

BB wowbagger

That sounds somewhat fishy :skep: :skep: :cheers:

lyonsh

Paul:

The nasty whining was probably a bad diode in the alt. Back in the old days, that could be fixed by rebuilding. Nowadays, labor is so expensive it's not worth it.

Now, on to your wiring harness issue. If a shop told me they would need to replace the entire front end wiring harness for a "faulty alternator" - which is in fact more likely a faulty voltage regulator that is full-fielding the alternator when not necessary - I would get my car the h#!! out of there as fast as I could. At worst (assuming this is the only problem you have), the charging circuit wiring is "bad" (has a short). That circuit is isolated from the main harnesss, and would not take out the entire wiring harness - unless bubba has been in there cross-connecting things.

In short, I think your shop is :bs -ing you.

ROD NOCK

Get a second diagnosis/opinion! :smash:

Pauld

Thanks guys, I will wait to see what they say tomorrow and hopefully it will be a simple fix. Will let you know what they say.

UKPaul

Hi Paul,
Any news on the alternator problem?
Paul

Pauld

The shop have replaced the alternator and chased the wiring problem and sorted that out without changing the harness, thank God!!!!! :D
I am about to go and pick it up and find out the final bill, but at least it should be sensible now.