wes:

the alternator has nothing to do with starting other than keeping the
battery charged. if the battery is indeed ok, and well charged, then the
alternator, associated wiring, and precise charging voltage, are all
irrelevant to this problem.

note: if the volatge across the battery is 13 V at idle with lights on, it
will be well above 13 V at cruising rpm, which is more than high enough to
charge battery. to check true charging voltage, measure voltage across
battery posts with engine running; if there is a contact resistance
between cable clamp and battery post, a measurement touching probes to
clamps instead of posts will yield a false, and higher (i.e., optimistic)
reading.

dan

On Tue, 24 Jan 2006 17:38:11 -0500, Wesley Pegden <wes@CS.UCHICAGO.EDU>
wrote:

>So, my van still has the same problems.  My success was a false alarm.
>It starts 1 out of 5-10 times, but never turns over slowly.  I've
>replaced the ground strap on the battery.
>
>I had the battery tested at an Autozone today (where I hope it's on
>warranty), and it checked out.  Also, keep in mind that throughout this
>whole ordeal, I've never jumped the car....
>
>Without any electrical running, I show between 13.25 and 13.5volts at
>the battery, and 13.8 or so volts at the alternator.If I add electrical,
>it can easily drop to 13 volts at the battery, or even a bit less.  The
>crimp on the alternator wire does indeed look worn, but not at all
>loose.  There are two wires going into the crimp.  What two wires are
>these?  To the starter and the battery?
>
>Is the bonding strap you're talking about here different from the ground
>cable from the transmission to the frame?  Most of this stuff looks old,
>but not actually loose.
>
>I would really appreciate people's suggestions.  When I tried grounding
>the alternator directly, it only added something like .04 volts at the
>battery, which hardly seemed worth it.
>
>Thanks!
>Wes
>'84 manual 1.9l
>