Yesterday I had to use the Vette to get some things done in the city since the Suburban’s alternator was in repair. We were driving normally at 35 mph and suddenly I noticed that the GEN light went on and the voltmeter dropped to 12 volts. Car was still running fine and although my girlfriend told me before the GEN light came on that she heard a strange knock sound, we both thought it was probably a road bump or something. I decided to pull over to the next fuel station but Merlin suggested to drive to her father’s workplace which was also close, just in case something had to be repaired at location. When in the car, I thought that probably the generator plug disconnected or some wire went bad. However, when we finally stopped, I came out of the car and noticed smoke coming out under the hood. I immediately stopped the engine and pulled the hood open to see whether there is something burning under there. I immediately saw that it was actually the coolant boiling from the overflow tank and actually it had been dripping onto the road for a few hundred meters on our way to the destination. I really don’t know how I did’t look at the water temperature at all since I kept looking at the voltmeter all the time. I guess you just overlook certain things which are “always” so normal.

So, ofcourse, what had happened was that the alternator – water pump rubber belt had broken and didn’t pull things around anymore. We managed to get a new belt in a couple of hours and after replacing it, we were happy to see that the engine was still running fine and everything began behaving normally again. Had I driven it longer like that, the engine could have gotten hurt. So, next time you notice a voltage drop, CHECK THE OTHER GAUGES TOO!