Alternator help needed asap!!

[Duke]

Ok, we are stuck in Dawson City, Yukon with an inoperable alternator. I have three options avalable to me; 1) have an alternator shipped by air freight here, 2) use batteries to jump start the van each morning till we get back to the lower mainland , or 3) is there an alternative to the mitsubishi alternator such as a Dodge. I can't do anything till Monday morning as all the shops are closed on Sunday. The alternator is shot cause I'm only getting 9.4 volts at the batteries when the engine is running, not enough to turn the motor over when stopped. Any help is appreciated, I'll be checking in tomorrow evening for replies.
Thanks
Chris
By the way, Yukon is fantastic!

[Luna-Sea]

Hey,
You would need to find one that has
the vacuum booster on the back of it,
for the brakes.
I am sure Glen and the gang at CC Auto
Could throw one on a plane for you.

It's kinda warm up there right now anyway
Isn't it?

Right on!

[username]

if your in a big rush to keep moving i'd just get a battery charger and park overnight someplace you can recharge every night. that'll keep you going. unless your camping...

[JMK]

Regarding the above, as you have a mechanical fuel pump I suppose it's feasible? But if so, parking and charging overnight is not too feasible. What if you want to stop for gas and you're dead?

So if you go that route you may consider finding a Canadian Tire, WalMart, etc., and purchasing a spare battery like a spiral cell, a small generator, a multimeter (to measure battery voltage) and some booster cables (I recall WalMart has some cheap 2 stroke generators for something like $175.00 which you won't want to keep in the long run). Keep the spare battery charged with the gen set, and then boost your dead battery as required (maybe you could run the genny on the roof rack while you're driving), or swap the batteries out. You could also charge the 'internal' battery overnight with the gen set. When you get back to civilization, return the above four items unless you decide to keep any of them of course.

Good luck on the return trip whatever may transpire and let us know how you made out.

[Duke]

OK, we're home, got back Thursday night and now the van is in the shop. It sounds like it is either the alternator or the voltage regulator, I'll find out next week.This all happened on the Dempster Highway on our way back to Dawson City. It was very dry and dusty so we were driving with the headlights on so we could be seen by the big rigs, there were lots! We stopped numerous times to take photos and to walk around, but on one such stop, the van barely turned over. Luckily for us there was a couple from Ontario who gave us a jump start, so we never turned of the van after that. I figured that we had plenty of time to get to Dawson City and to the NAPA store there to see if they can help, but 10 kms from the junction we come around a bend in the road and see a man and woman flagging us down. Both were in a daze as they had just rolled their car. Long story made short, they were ok but it was over an hour for the police and ambulance to arrive from Dawson.
So we roll into Dawson just before 5pm Saturday evening and stop at the NAPA store, here they repair RV's, highway trucks, and passenger vehicles. The parts gentleman tells me I would have to supply the part and I could get it shipped up by plane or Grayhound and that it would be a 2-4 day wait for them to install it. Flying it up would be expensive and bus would be 3-4 days and nothing could be done till Monday. Oh well, now I have to enjoy Dawson City . It is a very nice little town with lots of tourists and very friendly people.
Anyways, after posting my question and having a couple of days to think about it, we bought a battery charger and had the batteries charged up at the NAPA store. From there it was a 5 hour drive to Whitehourse to the Canuck Tire for a generator. That stayed on top of the van while it was running in the evening to charge the batteries. As for getting fuel, the van did not get turned off, I just kept it running. Most diesel pumps are to the outside of the stations and the people in the store don't seem to care.
Thanks for the help and suggestions.
Chris

that'll keep you going. unless your camping

Yes we were camping and we were still camping on the way home too.

It's kinda warm up there right now anyway
Isn't it?

It was nice, but the air was really smokey from all the fires. We filled up at Eagle Plains on the Dempster and it was 22C but the guy filling the van said it was forecast to snow and a high of 2C for the next day.

[RaddCruisers]

Just a note that these alternators can be rebuilt by any competent auto electric shop. We have them rebuilt locally on a regular basis, and not once has our local auto electric guy even made one hint that they were different than anything else in his line of expertise. The turn-around time is usually 1 day.

Surprisingly, they are not at all full of voodoo and witchcraft that only certain magicians can remove using specials spells or potions!!

[Duke]

Surprisingly, they are not at all full of voodoo and witchcraft that only certain magicians can remove using specials spells or potions!!

Your absolutley right, I've rebuilt alternators and generators, no problem. North American or imports, it's all the same process. My problem happened to be two things, time and I'm a cheap bastard. The closest place they could get the alternator rebuilt was Whitehorse, 5 hrs away. So figure a day to Whitehorse, day to rebuild and a day back, I was still looking at 2-4 days of waiting. Couple this with peak tourist season, a $130 a night for the hotel (we were there already 2 days), plus the cost of the rebuild and install, you can see where I'm going. Plus we were getting close to the end of our vacation, so time wasn't on my side. This solution was infinitly cheaper for me than waiting.
I have the van in the shop now, it will get the work needed done, and I can walk to work.
Be a long walk from Dawson though...
Chris

[JMK]

Most diesel pumps are to the outside of the stations and the people in the store don't seem to care.

I was told recently by one of my co-workers that the requirement to shut of your engine only pertains to the gas pumps, not diesel. He said that the explosion potential from static electricity is present with gas vapours and loss of pressure of the gas cap can trigger an event on gas engines, not diesel. As I had no reason to disbelieve him, I guess I'll assume that it's true unless someone disputes it.

However the thought occurred to me: if the kid working there is unaware of this apparent rule and disputes it by shutting the pumps off while you are refuelling, then being right doesn't do you much good does it?

[Duke]

I had not heard of this rule, but I can tell you I wasn't the only one doing that. There were a few places where people were letting their RV's run while filling and they were all diesel's. I suppose I should not have said "cared" but "not noticed". Most places were pay at the pump and only a few where you went inside to pay, but either way, it's not someting I will continue doing once the van is fixed. I just needed to do this to get home.
Chris

[JMK]

Yeah, I agree not much need to keep the engine running no matter what the laws are.

However I was curious to see just what the rules actually are and I couldn't really find anything about it on Google. Guess I'll have to remain curious.

[DelicaMark]

My alternator went when in Oregon last month. I found that I could easily manage with two batteries and a charger. I was getting well over 1000kms per charge if I limited the starting and ran with no lights etc. I did this for a week on the coast windsurfing without any problems. Actually, all you really need is a charger and one battery. I charged it up every other day and it was fine.

-Mark

[JMK]

I bought a Blue Top spiral cell over a year ago and carried it around in the Delica and never used it except to boost the dead work boat once. I had overused my inverter in the past to find my batteries dead, so it was ostensibly my backup. Good to know that my idea was good in principle at least!

Thanks for posting the benchmark data, good to know what we can expect if our alterators follow suite, as they probably will eventually do!

[Green1]

the official rule is that all vehicles must be turned off when fuelling within a certain distance (10 feet I think?) of a gas pump. So if the diesel pump is on it's own a ways away from the gas pumps there is no requirement to shut off the vehicle while re-fuelling, however if there is a gas pump nearby you must still shut down.

You'll notice at most truck stops that none of the big-rigs every shut down to re-fuel.

[Erebus]

So we roll into Dawson just before 5pm Saturday evening and stop at the NAPA store, here they repair RV's, highway trucks, and passenger vehicles. The parts gentleman tells me I would have to supply the part and I could get it shipped up by plane or Grayhound and that it would be a 2-4 day wait for them to install it.

I tried to get an oil change in Dawson, and that would have taken a day or two wait. So I waited until Whitehorse instead. But I sure do like Dawson other than that.

You had lots of semis? On our trip late last July, we only saw 2 semis, both following us north to Eagle Plains. Didnt see them after that. But then, we basically didn't see any traffic.

[Duke]

I tried to get an oil change in Dawson, and that would have taken a day or two wait. So I waited until Whitehorse instead. But I sure do like Dawson other than that.

We both liked Dawson, but I loved Whitehorse. If I could find a job there, I'd start tomorrow. The wife on the other hand is a little more reluctant and is proving to be the voice of reason.
Yes we saw quite a number of semi's on the Duster . At one point the road was so smooth I was doing 100 kms and leaving a trail of dust behind me, but this semi was catching up to me like I was standing still. I pulled over next to a creek to let him by and there were two trucks motoring on past. So then I pulled out the fishing rod and waited for the dust to settle. We did notice that compared to the lower mainland, traffic in the Yukon was fast but not hurried. No-one was up our butts trying to make us go faster, they simple went around and were gone. It didn't help not knowing the speed limit at times, there weren't too many signs.
But all in all we had a great time and we are planning on going back soon, maybe next year and get into Alaska to see Denali.
Chris

By the way, the van is fixed (brushes in the alternator) and the next trip awaits!