Thanks Dennis,
Your continued support on this forum is most appreciated!
Can you give us a ballpark figure of the labor cost for the replacement?
Yes
The cable by itself is $86 retail from Dodge (about $250 from MB source) and it takes 0.5 hours to install and test for current drop/charge etc with a professional machine spitting out all the data and a pass showing ripple current, voltage etc.
I have now taken a policy of recommending a new cable every time the alternator is replaced.
The other day I went over to my Dodge supplier who is behind my shop on Golden's Motor Row. I know the general manager over there and we often share service info "gems' like this one!
I dropped off a sample cable for him to show his techs since he had never heard of this problem.
Seemingly he is going to take it up with someone at MB since he considers this is a fire hazard (which it is!!)
This is not the first time I have seen this cable "build" on MB's, the C class 200 compressor has something similar and is hidden on top of the flywheel housing. When it "goes" it takes out the alternator control module on the fire wall. BMW employs the same sort of engineering "thinking" by stuffing a fusible link in the main feed line.
Anglo /American builds have by and large yet to adopt this philosophy having a direct uninterrupted feed from battery to main system components.
As an off topic comment I used to work closely with a Landrover/ Mil truck sales guy who was ex British Army Cavalry officer (Royal Houshold Cavalry)
Selling a fleet of LR's to the Iraqi Army I made a comment about the Steyr Pinzaguer of Austria and it meeting the FIMBRA Test.
His rebuke was "Huup--lah'!--(typical US and UK Cavalry remark)
We and the Americans have our own tests and standards. They are far superior!
Our stuff is combat proven theirs isn't!
Maybe this has some relevance to commercial vehicles in real world conditions--Food for thought!
Dennis