The Hitchens Consortium Many Thoughts. One Brain. Zero Sense.

I had an interesting experience this weekend working on Tianna's Jeep. From broken switches to fuses to an alternator that craved a slow, painful death, I leaned a ton.

The Main Issue here was that the Jeep would selectively choose when to start and not start, and would take weeks between it becoming a problem. Tianna took it to NTB after it happened and they told her that her battery was fine, but her alternator was crapping out. The damage? About $500.

"Feh," I said as I unfurled my auto repair cape to the wind. "I declare that this shall cost nothing more than $200. I can install this al-ter-na-tor device, and what's more, it shall be done for free and out of love."

The audience rose to its feet and...wait a minute, did this post just become a Shakespearean-era dramatic play?

*checks*

Hmm, yes, it looks like it. All the female parts are being played by boys, and there are five acts. Nothing rhymes, though. That's convenient.

Oh, I'm being told now that act two is about to start. I should quiet down.

Saturday arrived with a new discovery, you see. The lights of braking were not lighting. Lo! This was a development most unfortunate, and one with certain incovenient constabulary consequences! A decree was made. "Let no-one drive The Jeep lest the lights of braking function with quality and resolve!"

The curtain drops. These are really short acts. I'm hungry though, and I don't think I'll stay. I'll just pick up the Cliff Notes on the way to the deli.

Ahh, here we go.

So after checking the bulbs and the fuses, I couldn't find anything wrong, so I went to my local O'Reilly with some questions. They told me that it was probably the switch on the brake pedal gone bad, and I was inclined to agree. I picked one up and headed out. Sure enough, I checked the old switch and it was shorting when I pressed it in, so I chucked it and replaced it.

So imagine my surprise when I found that the car wouldn't start.

Turns out that the bad brake switch was masking another problem, and now the alternator was rearing it's ugly head. I left it for the next day and decided to call in to my various resources for advice. My dad was convinced that the battery was the problem, but I felt like everything was pointing to the alternator.

Sunday we woke up, got some breakfast, and I got to work. I took out the battery, took off the belt, unbolted the alternator and (after exerting MUCH force) was able to pull it out. I put in the replacement (much easier), hooked everything up, and put a new belt on. Moment of truth. Hooked it up to the Jetta for a jump and crossed my fingers.

Started on the first try :)

What a strange collections of intermingling problems. The brake light switch short was causing the battery to drain at times, and was masking the alternator problem. Now it's all good :)

By the way, the play is at the Alley until the end of the month, but it's been getting pretty dreadful reviews.