Stefano, if must be catching. Just recently my alt light has taken
several seconds before going out. Tonight I needed to run a quick errand
and alt light was still glowing a bit as I got on the freeway and it
then went to a medium bright to full bright, almost as if it was on a
blinker of sorts. When I eventually stopped for a light, it glowed
bright red. Car did restart after short errand.
Bottom line, using my multi meter I got 12.3 volts at the alt. revved
the engine and it didn't move - it should read around 14.2 or better
(believe that's right). Meaning the battery isn't dead yet, but the alt
isn't doing anything. My alt belt is a little loose, so at least worth
tightening before ordering a new one.
I just dug out a tip from Jeff Greenfield to check for bad diodes: "Set
a DMM (? - I used an old but reliable analog meter at the time) on a low
A/C (not a typo) volt range and measure the A/C voltage at a fast idle
with the system under a load, (lights, and other item's on such as A/C)."
"Anything more than about 200mV (.2V) is too much."
I'll try it on mine tomorrow, but not hopeful. I hope this helps you
nail down your situation. In my case I'll probably also run it by the
Interstate guys (front unit here) to use their more sophisticated tester.
Do make sure you're not running off the battery.
Biba
Irwindale, CA USA
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