We were driving our fire engine and chase truck in the backcountry of the Helena Forest, Montana. Our engine electronics started going out, from our mobile radio (no communications) to the headlights. The volt meter inside the engine was going down quickly. We turned off all auxiliary electronics and turned the engine around to start heading back towards the closest town that was many miles away.
The alternator dies on a logging road and engine is non operational. Instead of calling a mechanic for an expensive service repair. We parked the chase truck next to the engine, hooked up the battery jump cables and charged the fire engine batteries for a bit. We started the engine then started the engine pump. The engine pump has its own alternator. The pump alternator is what we used to keep the diesel engine important electronics (fuel pump and oil solenoid) running. The volt meter inside the engine went from nothing to 12 volts. That was enough volts to drive the engine from the middle of nowhere to a certified mechanic. We had a new alternator in the engine the following day and back in service!
The first picture is the engine alternator, the second picture is the pump alternate, the third picture is the volt meter coming up to 12 volts.
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