Originally Posted by zeke

I am still troubleshooting my poor charging problem in the 300TD

Alternators go in putting out proper voltage (~14.1-13.7V), but after a couple of weeks, performance declines and they stop working.

It has happened 2 or 3 times (once there was a bad battery in the car as well, so I am not sure which came first.)

While I am waiting on a replacement alternator I am digging into the wiring.

The wires coming to the 3 port junction just behind the expansion coolant tank all look good - I had previously cut out the burned ends and spliced new terminals on.

But, the brake sensor wire on the PS is pretty rough. The outer insulation had cracked, so I wrapped it with electrical tape. Now, the electrical tape is showing signs of heat distortion, and the modular plug on the cabin side had melted and warped and was burned right through right above where one of the wires connects with a socket. The connections themselves have corrosion in them. So clearly this wire must be replaced, and I need a new modular socket on the cabin side as well.

My question is if you think this is enough of a problem to cause my alternator failures.

On a recent trip, about 4 hours of continuous highway drving with only the headlights on (no radio, AC, interior lights, or anything in the cig lighter) led to a 60% loss of charge.