I was driving home today and had some very strange things start to happen with my electrical accessories. The Valentine One kept resetting itself, the radio started turning off and on, turn signals stopped working, and the windows were dead. I pulled it into the garage and tried to restart...totally dead.

The battery was my first suspect, as the battery was installed in 1997. The car ran fine, so I didn't really think the alternator was to blame.

I installed a new battery. The car fired right up and it seems to be operating normally...the power accessories are working fine. However, I noticed in the dark garage, the red battery light is lit ever so slightly. It doesn't change in intensity when a load is put on it.

I'm now thinking the alternator may be to blame. I've done some reading here and there has been mention of brush and/or regulator replacements rather than needing to replace the entire assembly.

If you think this may be the way to go, how would I go about obtaining the brushes and regulator? And how do they get installed once I pull the alternator?

__________________
Lance Allison
Lance@LanceAllison.com

Current:
11 MB S550 4Matic, 55k miles, Designo Black/Black
14 Ford F150 XLT Lariat Crew, 73k miles, 5.0
Coyote V8 4x4. Black/tan.
09 GMC Envoy Denali, 5.3 V8, 4x4 SWB. 38k miles,
Jewel Red/Med Gray.

Gone:
87 MB 300SDL, 320k miles, Astral Silver/Blue.
98 VW Jetta TDI, 488k miles, Classic Green/Gray.
85 Olds 98 Brougham FWD, 4.3 DIESEL V6, 80k
miles, 3x Gray.

MBCA Member, Chicago Region