Interesting start to vacation

The wife and I are doing sort of a cross-country tour in the TC. Had everything checked out and all maintenance done before leaving. Everything was going great until yesterday -- then the cruise control started acting up... OK, turn it off and car seems to be running fine... the antilock brake light goes on, eh, it's the interstate, I'll check it later... the A/C shuts off... the speedo starts to oscillate... O/D shuts off... uh-oh, must be a general electrical fault and we're in OK westbound on I-40 about 20 miles from the TX border, i.e. out in the middle of nowhere.

REST STOP 1 MILE

Yes! Thank you God!

I pop the hood -- everything seems OK, belts are all tight, nothing overheated. I try to restart the car -- nothing! It must have been running the last 20 miles off the battery, so that explains all the electrical faults. Gah! The alternator must have given up the ghost! Fortunately we have AAA Plus which is good for a 100 mile tow.

Got towed to a little town in the panhandle of TX where they try to locate an alternator for an 88 TC -- hah! fat chance of that happening. We finally got towed to an automotive battery place in Lubbock where it looks like one of the guys from ZZTop works. They pull the alternator to look for the problem and rebuild it if necessary.

Any guesses?

It was the REGULATOR!!!! Wha...?

Well, they fixed it and sent us on our way. Everything is working great again.

Schedule -- a couple of days in Santa Fe, then a week in Las Vegas, then head back home, probably stopping in Moab to check out the National Monuments, then who knows?

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Ed Meinel
88 TC: stock
88 TC: twins!
92 Cougar 25th ann'y FOR SALE
99 Mustang GT vert: modded
www.turbotbird.com/showroom/EdMl_88TC.html

Glad to hear you got it fixed up and are back on your way. Maybe a 130 A 3G alternator conversion is in your future.... much easier to get parts for than the weird 88 TC alt!

We all have to remember that we are driving cars the newest of which is now 16 years old, and problems are bound to show up at just the wrong times. Driving a TC, or any older car, across country sure does require a sense of adventure and a good sense of humor! Good luck on the rest of your trip [Image: smile.gif]

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Jeff Korn

88 Turbo Coupe: Intake and exhaust mods, T3 turbo at 20 psi, forced air intercooler, water injection, bypass valve, Ranger roller cam, subframes, etc., etc.. // 86 Tbird 5.0 (original owner): intake, exhaust, valvetrain mods, 100 HP nitrous, ignition, gears, suspension, etc., etc.... // 91 Escort: Bone stock winter car // 02 Taurus Vulcan(wifes car)

Originally posted by Jeff K:
Driving a TC, or any older car, across country sure does require a sense of adventure and a good sense of humor! Good luck on the rest of your trip [Image: smile.gif]

Hell, even owning a TC requires a sense of adventure and a damn good sense of humor.

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1987 TC 5 Speed
K&N Cone mounted on the VAM,Ric Gillis Valve

I'm ascared to leave town in mine! When in Vegas, give me a call!

I just got back from a weekend trip to Cape Cod for my cousins wedding and it made it 7 hours to and back. Damn im happy i didnt have any problems. The only problem i had was keeping a chevy cavalier with a fart can from trying to race me every couple miles. I want to go between 80 - 90MPH and he wanted to go 90MPH for 30 seconds and then slow down and he did this repeatedly....what an idiot.