Never had an alt. die, well ok one, but have lost a couple of batteries to the heat.

Not sure as to the real "why"... they all failed within a month of the warranty running out... :confused:

The only alt. I have ever lost was on my truck 300k miles and according to the stack of paperwork the PO handed me with the truck, it had never been replaced...

I have replaced serveral Ford alt... they were all the ones that were mounted right in the middle of the "V" on the top of the engine... so yeah I can see the heat killing them...

Gauges-idiot lights-gauges
 

Hi,
The talk of guages and idiot lights reminds me of back in the day.
My dad worked at a ford dealership in the parts department and service department. According to his stories the manufacturers went to idiot lights because all the complaints about "my new xwy super plurion motor doesn't have 'good, enough or not enough' take youre pick oil pressure at idle." Or "No I don't watch that, what's it for?" Basically a lack of knowledge on the part of most drivers on vehicle operation (and I'll ad driving skills and etiquette) then and now. So idiot lights were introduced because most know that red means stop, danger,something bad is going to happen. Gauges were not available on many models even as an extra cost option for a number of years. Evidently there must have been enough of a clamor for the return of gauges maybe because no body wanted "idiot" lights so a limited number of gauges we're brought back and I can understand why the manufactures may have them electrically damped so that they don't react instantaneously or have a limited display range.

Even today some drivers don't know the difference between what the red and amber "idiot" lights mean.

Re: 86 octane gas. Its common in higher altitudes Lower atmospheric pressure at altitudes means less air is sucked in on intake which lowers combustion pressures and combined with less oxygen leads to less combustion heat and the need for octane enhancement to prevent fuel air mixture from exploding causing destructive engine knock.

Back in the day dad had a '58 Ford Fairlane 240 CID six, Fordomatic with power steering. Weak enough in Iowa, hardly able to pull itself over the Rockies as it coughed and sputtered on the over rich fuel mixture. Makes me cringe when folks say they don't make cars like they used to. Thank God! Drum brakes on all four corners, chokes, carburetors, generators, engines that needed carbon removed and the valves ground periodically, ignition points, engines that might have gone 60K miles with out needing rings and bearings.

You're right the little engine didn't like what you were feeding it once it got to lower altitudes it may not have been able to adjust timing enough to make up for the lower octane fuel

Oops! I ramble

Jim