My '84 190E died on me one afternoon almost 2 weeks ago, it was acting like the battery was dead, I jumped it, took it to the mechanic, had the battery & alternator tested, the alternator tested bad, I decided to hold off on the alternator for a few days while I shopped around for a part that I could afford & the car ran fine for over a week when it died again. I pulled the batery out and had it tested by itself, turns out the battery was for a deisel engine and was sulfated. Had the battery replaced, had the alternator tested again, this time the alternator tested OK. Car ran fine for 2 days and died again, same problem, it's acting like the battery is dead.

What can cause inconsistant results in the alternator testing? The 2 tests I had were both load tests. Something tells me that it's not the alternator, what other things can cause charging problems?

Doesn't matter if battery was for diesel - probably just more reserve and cranking amps. Suggest you change the regulator-brush pak on your alternator - brushes are probably shot. Use search to find previous threads on this subject. Contact Phil at Fastlane to get the part pronto.