Sourcing a particular alternator to work with this car in the middle of South Dakota was not looking good. Our best-case scenario was to have one overnighted from Minneapolis for Saturday delivery then beg a local shop to stay open to install it - not to mention this was all during "Wheel Jam" weekend in Huron - things weren't looking very good. More likely this was all going to have to wait until Monday. Our unexpected pit stop was about to turn into a long stay in a town far from home.
Plan B: After staying up half the night researching parts and repairs, we came up with a new solution. The melted voltage regulator could be replaced by itself, possibly without having to remove the alternator, if we could just find the part locally and a shop to do it for us. Turns out, the best alternator repair and rebuild shop was a place called Nielsen's, just over an hour away in Brookings, due east from our location - the entirely wrong direction. It was either that or wait till Monday. Brookings or bust it is!
With a brand new battery installed and a full charge we were confident the little Lotus could make the journey to Brookings on battery power alone. We called ahead and Jeff and McCoy at Nielsen's cleared their schedule for us. Thanks to these incredibly talented and generous guys, less than 2 hours later we were back on the road with an alternating reading 14V and charging as it should.
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| Thanks to Jeff and McCoy for getting us back on the road |
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| The culprit: melted voltage regulator |
Just like Willie Nelson we're "on the road again!"
South Dakota flew by in a flurry of billboards advertising every imaginable roadside stop. We took a few quick pit stops here and there but were on a mission to make up time. We did have to stop in Wall, SD at the famous Wall Drug store for 5 cent coffee and FREE ice water!
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