Who needs a field current!?

["Mr. Daniel P. Grady" <dgrady@mail2.nai.net>]

Problem: 87 5Kq had low electrical power until the engine  rpm reached 2000
for the first time each morning. All the lights would stay nice and bright
once this speed was hit once and no idiot lights ever told me what was
wrong.
Solution: I was ready to remove the air-duct/ cover thingy on the back of
the alternator in order to replace the VR+brush set when my hand brushed the
little wire coming from the back of the alternator. The wire came out of the
cover with no terminal on the end, there wasn't even any metal showing on
the end of it! Added new terminal to it and hooked it up and now everything
is peachy.
I do not understand how I drove the car with a condition like that for over
3 months in New England without a dead battery.  Madness. Why are those
lights taking up space on the dash if they aren't going to tell me when
something is going on? The lights were really dim until the engine reved up,
shouldn't something have alerted me to a low-charging alt or something? Oh
well, its fine for now.
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From:  dgrady@ct2.nai.net