HELP! I have looked everywhere in the postings and cannot find an answer to the problem.

It all started when the car was in the body shop being de-rusted and re-painted. When I got the car back, I had the alternator/water pump belt squealing. A couple of days later, the belt broke on a lonely highway just after midnight. I had the car towed in and replaced the belt.

Now when I am driving the car, the seatbelt warning light will come on once to four times in my 50 minute drive to work. At night, the headlights flare up. Sometimes they stay bright (up to 50% brighter) for more than 10 minutes, other times they just pulse bright and then go dim. When the lights surge, the defroster fan kicks into hyper-drive, and if I am using the wipers, they double in speed. This surge in the other electrical devices seems to have no correlation to the seatbelt warning light. It will come on before, during, or after the surge in power.

I have had the alternator bench tested, and it checked out fine under a load. I have checked out the seatbelt contacts and switches, they are okay according to the meter. The battery is old, but not that old. However, could this cause the surge I am seeing, if the battery has problems, will it cause the alternator / voltage regulator to kick into turbo to compensate for the battery's problems?

Any assistance or suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks, William

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76 240D - 545K miles
78 300D - ?K miles