Vehicle Maintenance #8of9

1985 Renault, Pilote RV, continued

We stopped at a Renault dealer near Chambéry, France, and told them the alternator light was on, then off, then on again. The man tested the alternator, checked various wires then found the cable on the RV battery was loose. The people in Arles did not tighten the cable properly. I showed the service manager the bill from Arles, so he charged us nothing.

Over the next couple of weeks the Renault’s red alternator light was on again, then off again. In Merzig, Germany, they checked the whole electrical system, and found nothing wrong, but again, sometimes it’s on, sometimes it’s off.

On the edge of Zurich, Switzerland, we stopped at a large Renault garage. They looked and checked, then said if it comes on for a couple of minutes, just forget it, as it is OK. That doesn’t give us much confidence in the system. While the Renault’s red alternator light continued to be on a while, then off a while, each night while plugged into electricity in the campground, the battery charger completely charges both batteries as much as needed, so they should be OK.

In Trieste, Italy, we again found a Renault dealer. They checked, then said the fan belt might be loose. With my help, a new belt was installed, and for the rest of the day, no red light.

A day or two later we were still having the problem with the alternator light, so in Villach, Austria, we again found a Renault dealer. It was 10 minutes to 12:00 noon, and that’s not a good time to find anything in Europe. I explained it must be a problem with the sensor system that turns on the red light, and not with the alternator. The man agreed, and once under the hood, he pulled on a couple of wires and found one broken! For all these weeks, the mechanics in several countries (and me), had pushed in the wires to make sure they were making contact, and that made it work for a little while, until it jiggled loose again. This man pulled a wire, then found and solved the problem, in just a few minutes.

His friends kept trying to get him go to lunch, but since it was a rather simple problem, the mechanic wouldn’t go until he finished. I asked how much we owed, and when the man saw the cashier had also gone to lunch, he indicated we should just leave. The wonderful people we meet.