did my alt finally die?

[jmd2914]

ive been having voltage problems for about the past month now. it would stay at the top of the guage unless the car was at idle. a few days ago the voltage started to jump around, sometimes it would be up at the top of the guage and sometimes it would stay down right above the red at the bottome and not more no matter how much load it was under. then tonight finally my battery died. to me this sounds like my alternator died. anything else it could be?

thanks

J

 

[ThePumpkin]

Do you have a digital multimeter? The volts at the battery should rad a little over 14volts while the car is running.
Also, I have found that 99% of the time, when an alternator goes out... Its the alternator regulator. Unless your soaking it in water, The parts in an alternator are pretty much indestructible.
It's just so cheap to buy a new one.. so nobody worries about why its not working..
I would take it out and bring it to orilley's or something of the sort and have them test it first... they should do it for free.
and yes, everything points to it, but its never a bad idea to have it double checked... especially if its for free.

Good luck.

 

[jmd2914]

The reason i went right to thinking it was the alternator instead of the regulator is because i replaced the regulator on it about three weeks ago. It kept the voltage down for about a day and now the alt wont charge