>From the description of the symptoms my guess is a bad voltage regulater in the alternater. The alternater is running "flat out", that is the regulater is bad and thinks the battery is low and is telling the alternater to output full. Take the alternater off and have an auto electrical shop "bench" it. That is they put it on a test bench and can control the load and watch it operate. If confirmed bad the regulater is easy to replace but it may be smarter to get a rebuilt with new bearings and brushes too. If the battery was subjected to overcharging it may need to be replaced too. Take it along and have it load tested. Be careful, before removing the alternater disconnect the battery. If this was a grounding problem you wouldn't have full output on the alternater, the starter wouldn't work, and the idiot light wouldn't come on. This could have been caused by jump-starting or accidently touching the cables the wrong way. David Teitelbaum vin 10757 --- In dmcnews@xxxx, "tmpintnl" <tobyp@xxxx> wrote: > Hello List - I've got a little challenge with Winged1 that is outside > of my limited knowledge of electricity. To begin with, I have a Delco > 108 amp alternator installed (for the past 8 years or so). At > present, my "idiot light" is glowing most of the time, and the voltage > in the system is showing 14.5 volts using a digital multimeter at the > battery terminal in the engine bay. The static voltage in the car is > about 13.2 volts with the engine off. If I idle the engine, and turn > on everything, I see a voltage pull down to about 13.2 volts. Is this > an internal regulator challenge with the alternator, or some bizarre > ground situation? I know that the voltages are high ... hmmmmm. > There is evidence of outgassing from the battery. Any ideas from you > "closet sparkies" out there? > > Toby Peterson VIN 2248 > Winged1 - Structures ... yes. Electricity ... bah, humbug.