Ok, alternator #3 is in place. It's giving 13.8vdc after the GP relays click off. Alt #2 was giving 14.4 until it just quit. Not sure what to make of that.

I had AutoZone test alt #3 before I put it on the car and it tested good, three times in a row in fact. So that's great. Then I put it in and got 13.8. Seems ok but a bit lower than last time, so I drove the car up to AutoZone and had them run their on-car alt test. Came back with failed voltage regulator. Alt still giving 13.8. I'm guessing their machine is wrong.

Thing about their test is that they start with the car off, hook to the battery, push a bunch of buttons then have you start it. Now I have my aux fan set to run whenever the key is turned, plus the GP relay does it's thing and continues to run the glowplugs for a while after start, so voltage after a start is gonna read low for a bit. I'm guessing that's why it said failed voltage regulator, but I dunno. I think I'm going to have them test again with the GP relay unplugged and the aux fan unwired. As of this morning I'm still reading 13.8VDC.

__________________
Own:
1970 Mercedes 250c, 1976 International Scout II, 1982 Mercedes 240d, 1997 Honda Accord Wagon, 1998 Acura Integra Type-R, 2009 Mazda5.
Owned:
1974 International 100 pickup, 1975 International Scout II, 1981 Mercedes 240d, 1985 Mercedes 300SD, 1988 Honda Accord, 1988 Ford Thunderbird, 1991 Honda Accord, 1996 Geo Metro, 1996 Ford F150, 1996 Dodge Grand Caravan, 1997 Honda Accord, 2003 Acura TL-S, 2003 Yamaha V-star.