Painless Performance Alternator - Painless PowerStar

For anyone who likes to do custom work on their truck, it is a good idea to keep an inventory of miscellaneous spacers and such to use at times like this. Not that it would have been all that hard to make a new spacer, or use the backyard mechanic's favorite cure, a stack of flat washers.

The best high-end electrical components use real gold to make their connections. The same is true for the one-wire lead that connects the PowerStar to a gold terminal.

Look closely where the screwdriver tip is pointing and you will notice the terminal end on the 12-volt one-wire hot lead twisted into the alternator case as it was tightened, creating a dead short. It is essential to make sure this has not occurred or severe damage will result to the PowerStar alternator; it is known as "brand-new alternator charcoal surprise."

The last step was to adjust the alternator/smog pump belt tension, and then make one last visual inspection of the belt's alignment.

We lied; the last step was to make sure the battery was fully charged before we started the truck (damage can occur to the alternator if it isn't), and then admire the Painless PowerStar in all its virgin aluminum glory.

The proof is in the pudding. As soon as we finished installing our Painless PowerStar, we cruised out to the Route 66 rendezvous in San Bernardino, CA, and cruised all day long at 5 mph with the A/C blasting; our new Clarion sound system, complete with an amplifier, cranked up; and the voltmeter needle never budged.