On Thu, 3 Mar 2005 wrote:

> Daniel J. Stern wrote:

> > At one time, I drove a very used 1991 ex-police Chev Caprice.

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> > The alternator's front bearing had locked up solid, and the entire
> > bearing was now spinning in its interference fit,

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> > a thick column of smoke poured from the *extremely* hot alternator.
> > The once-greasy painted brackets were now bare steel, dark pink in
> > color.

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> > The water treatment averted fire danger due to extreme heat, but in
> > the time it had taken to buy the first bottle of water, the alternator
> > had welded itself solid.

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> > Three hours and $250 later, the car had a replacement alternator and a
> > new belt, both of unknown quality.

> I'm curious Dan. Since the alternator was cooked, was there any core
> trade-in value on it towards the new one?

That's the funny part -- there was not a SINGLE usable piece on that
alternator. The rotor, stator and all other internals were thoroughly
barbecued and the housings had sustained severe heat damage (rear) and the
spun bearing (front). Nevertheless, Canadian Tire did deduct the core
value from the final bill. A very expensive doorstop for a remanufacturing
plant somewhere.