A few weeks ago, my car (1991 190E 2.3) died at a stoplight and the battery appeared to be dead. I replaced the battery and alternator with a reman. The car ran fine until a few days ago, when the ABS light came on and the car eventually stalled (battery dead again).

The ABS light came on several minutes before the battery died, leading me to believe that the OVP relay might be part of the problem. My SRS light is out, so I'm not sure what it was doing during this time.

Saturday, I replaced the OVP relay. All symptoms remain the same - car starts fine with a jump, unplug the jumper cables and the ABS light comes on (low charging voltage?) and the engine eventually dies. I'm guessing that the alternator might be bad again, and my next step is to head out with a multimeter and measure the voltage. Is there anything else for which I should check? Thanks in advance.

Additional information gathered with the multimeter:

Car off: 12V
Car running at idle: about 8V, steady

Obviously that's the reason the battery died. Like I said, the alternator is a new reman and the OVP and battery are both new. Suggestions?

tell me they put in a new voltage regulator and did not switch it out with the old one.
m

__________________
Martin Ingram
Colorado Springs
2005 320 CDI
2006.5 VW Jetta TDI
1991 560SEL (179000 Sold)
1972 280SEL 4.5 ('The Lead Sled' 320000 miles when sold.)
1972 220D (225000 when sold)

I ordered a Bosch reman online and then sent the core back, so the voltage regulator is definitely new (to me). Is that the most likely culprit? Would a bad ground cause this problem?

bad ground could cause this but I doubt it is the alternator belt tight. If you can get the alternator tested in situ as 8V is low.
m

__________________
Martin Ingram
Colorado Springs
2005 320 CDI
2006.5 VW Jetta TDI
1991 560SEL (179000 Sold)
1972 280SEL 4.5 ('The Lead Sled' 320000 miles when sold.)
1972 220D (225000 when sold)