I've had 3 alternator failures, including one fire caused by a short that ignited the plastic case on the French alternator(Valero or Paris-Rhone, I think).
On my trip Monday to Catalina, the alternator failed to come up to charge voltage. Previously, it had been requiring a "fast idle" to get going, but this time, nothing doing. I have it in the shop being checked out now but I determined that it would kick in OK with a direct connection to the batteries, but not with the voltage available from the instrument panel. This is from a brown wire that comes out of the back of the warning panel on my 1999 with a A41 diesel, but is only about 3 volts??? Does anyone know if this is normal?
Also, has anyone had success adding a second alternator to the port side? I have tried to replace the Valero with a Prestolite or equivalent but it looks too difficult to make it fit onto the Volvo mounting locations.
Dave, on Sea Como No