trying to revive a 72 280 4.5 that has been sitting for 4 years in a garage. Did all the prep work with oil in the spark plug holes, drained the tank and put in fresh gas. cleared out the fuel pump. Then I purchased a new battery for it. when I hooked up the battery there was a instant smoking from within the alternator. quite sure it is toast now, but would like to know if this could of been due to a bad voltage regulator or just from the alternator sitting unused for so long?

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72 280 se 4.5

Had to be a short -- you have battery voltage on the diodes (I think, its somewhere anyway) via the charging line. No voltage applied to the rotor with the key off, unless someone "modified" the wiring.

Voltage regulator is remote on this car.

Peter

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1972 220D ?? miles
1988 300E 200,012
1987 300D Turbo killed 9/25/07, 275,000 miles
1985 Volvo 740 GLE Turobodiesel 218,000
1972 280 SE 4.5 165, 000 - It runs!

certainly possible there was a short. quite a few of the wires are brittle and I had to wrap some.
what is the process for switching out the alternator?

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72 280 se 4.5

Loosen lock nut and unscrew the lock bolt on the bracket that goes to the alternaltor body. Loosed adjusting nut until belt can be removed, then remove lock bolt entirely.

Unplug the wires from the back, remove the hot wire (the red one held down by a nut) and the ground line, then remove the pivot bolt and altenator lifts off. Easy on the V8, it's on top.

If the wiring between the alternator and regulator is bad, I'd rewire before installing another alternator. No need to roast two!

Peter

__________________
1972 220D ?? miles
1988 300E 200,012
1987 300D Turbo killed 9/25/07, 275,000 miles
1985 Volvo 740 GLE Turobodiesel 218,000
1972 280 SE 4.5 165, 000 - It runs!