do as Lincoln says, charge the battery up
then disconnect the leads to the alt for one night
and see if the battery stays charged, or go get the alt tested at a shop or store
I just had an alternator tested at O'reallys,
it was bad, they also tested the replacement one to make sure
it was good and it was.. the alternator was org on an 88 merc,
they dont last for ever..the thing just went dead over night, thought it was the old battery that was 3 yrs old even though it was a 72 start from o'really.. it tested good after charged and this thing was as dead as you can get..
our battery with the old alt went from fully charged
to about 9.7 volts in a few hours, once you are sure the alt is ok, then go to your next step...
a lot of folks dont think an alt can drain a batter by just setting and not running, they can......
Last edited by joker; 08/18/2011 11:15 PM.
