What in the world just failed on my truck?

It's 100% as delivered, unmodified. Just opened the box and installed.

Good points. Is it really so hit or miss with these parts? It just seems unimaginable that I'll be doing this all over again.

 

I believe so. Did the shop claim that it’s a brand new alternator? I would start digging there.

A guy I work with had his old kohler generator head rewound with virgin copper and ended up paying ~ 700 bucks for it. Quality winding craftsmanship with good materials isn’t cheap. So if it seems like too good of a deal with an alternator, then it probably is. Anyway, just my $.02

Wishing you the best of luck getting your issue resolved

 

I’ve had luck with remanufactured carquest alternators through advance. Lifetime warranty and out of 5-6 I’ve used I haven’t had a dud yet. They’re easy to get and my local store will bench test them on demand.

 

Long post here (sorry!):

Yes, the shop claimed this was a 100% new alternator.

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The situation just keeps getting weirder and weirder, though.

Initial tests are listed above. Yet, since I cannot call the manufacturer until tomorrow, I figured I'd do some more testing.

Real world usage (vs. Sitting in my driveway);

- Truck turned on, at idle, is now reporting 13.5vdc consistently. Before, it was ~12.5vdc.

- Figured I'd put her under load, and since I needed to move the boat so contractors can come dig a trench tomorrow, I moved the boat. Surprisingly, no issues came up (even w/ the sump being full of rain water!)...

- So, if she can move the boat, I figured a real world drive would be in order. Hence, 2x 45 min road trips, and all went well.

The built-in volt meter did drop slightly when I'd come to a stop. Though, this eventually stopped happening completely and the truck held the middle line consistently.

The whine noise? It was there (very minor) when I first turned her on. When RPMs increased, there was no noise at all. Before, the noise got worse with RPM increases.

By the end of the 1st 45 min drive, the engine sounded like it was brand new! - Perfectly quiet, almost a purr.

But now it gets even more odd...

The train horn, in the past, would run both air pumps, but never increase pressure. I figured I'd test all systems, so I flicked the master safety on, and sure enough, it fires up and starts fully pressurizing the tank! -- Maybe this was a voltage issue all along?

She's overall running great. But I'm worried this could be intermittent?

Is it possible some high-output alternators need to be broken in??

 

I’d see what they say but plan on running it. Glad it’s working now.