I've seen this, "thing", a couple of times - a battery will die and
the
alternator will die at the same time. My theory is the alternator is
working extra hard trying to keep the battery charged - which it can;t
do
because the battery is shorted, etc - so the alt dies because it's
running
wide open almost all the time - and summer comes along and the added
electr
needs of ACC and the AC blower - creates even more demand.
This _can_ happen, but it's fairly rare. When you overload the
alternator
for a significant amount of time the diodes can be overheated, and blow.
It's kind of hard to do, because if you just short out the alternator it
loses the ability to excite its own field and it just goes limp on ya.
Should be OK when the short is removed. But an extra-heavy load, such
as a badly leaking (electrically) battery could maybe do it. As I said,
it's rare but I have heard of it.
-- Jim
