>When it goes the ammeter jumps around wildly between
>charging at a couple amps and many amps, and I can tell when because the
>heater fan motor rev's as the engine rev's increase meaning the regulator
>went and the voltage is increasing -
>Any ideas??
Only a serious heavy drain would blow multiple altenators in a row. A dead
short could intermittently heat up the varnish windings in the alternator
so that it could take a few hard hits of a dead short in the system, but
not long after that it would produce less and less of a charge until it was
dead completely.
I would suspect the battery has had an internal failure letting one or more
plates touch inside. That would cause a very heavy drain on the electrical
system, but may not be detectable once the car is at rest due to the
vehicle no longer moving or vibrating.
Other spots to check out are any primary unfused circuits that could have
wires chafing. Check your connections from the back of the alternator to
the battery as well as the battery cables themselves. Trace each one
through its entire length to see if there is anyplace it could be
rubbing. Exhaust manifolds and pipes are a favorite spot for the cable to
melt through the insulation and periodically short to the pipe.
-Vegaman Dan
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