I concure with Loren,  do not assume new/rebuilt = good.   My father-in-law
goes
through alternators and batteries like candy on his many "projects".   I've
identified
faulty wiring for him a few times but his lack of electronic knowledge
limits his debug
ability undermined by Kragen (O'Reilly) selling semi-good parts (see
Frankenstein)...

Steven
91 Westy

On Mon, Dec 5, 2011 at 10:17 AM, Loren Busch <starwagen@gmail.com> wrote:

>  RE: Electrical problems that imply either battery or alternator problems
> Annie, you (or your mechanic) needs to put a volt meter on the battery and
> see what it reads, should be above 12 volts, preferably around 12.6 volts
> after sitting for a while.  Then, with engine running, check the voltage at
> the battery.  That should be well over 13 volts, close to 14 volts or
> better, if the alternator is doing it's job.  If the relatively new
> alternator was a rebuild from the local FLAPs failures are not uncommon.
> And batteries can go bad also, I had one fail completely just five months
> after the install.
>