NO! NEVER DISCONNECT THE BATTERY WITH THE CAR RUNNING TO TEST THE ALTERNATOR! That battery acts as a real big voltage regulator. Without it connected, the alternator can produce power spikes that can and WILL blow out electronic equipment. (Just like how jump-starting can shorten the life of the auto trans computer govenor). This process may have been alright on real old cars that contained no electronics, but any modern car (especially the D) contains very fragile electronics that will be damaged if you conduct this procedure. This has been brought up before, Les, perhaps this is somthing for your newbie startup guide. Jim Reeve MNDMC - Minnesota DeLorean Club DMC-6960 --- In dmcnews@xxxx, "sk1pper" <sk1pper@xxxx> wrote: > A sure way of testing the alternator is to start the car then remove one of the battery leads (preferbally the positive), then test the pos and neg for 12-17vDC.