The squealing relates to bad or dying bearing sin the alternator. If it seized you would have likely hear a lot more noise than that. Removing the alternator isn't a terrible job, and many auto parts stores will test it for you. It may be as simple a problem as the bulg in your dash that indicates a charging system fault - if that goes bad the alternator won't kick in, believe it or not. That light should have come on I think, if your alternator was dead, and you don't mention it, so it could be that simple. I've heard of D owners with a good battery ablt to drive their cars for 20 plus miles just on the battery, that's probably what you were doing too. Get a charger on the battery very soon and bring it back up to full charge ASAP - don't let it sit around depleted. I'd say first, put the battery on charge. Then pull the alternator and have it tested. If the alternator is good, pull the binnacle and replace all the bulbs in there. (Pulling the binnacle may be just a bit harder than the alternator.) If you upgrade to LEDs you still need to use an original bulb for your charging system indicator, you can't use an LED in that one. If you buy a new alternator, there are several choices. Consider your power consumption needs. The Motorola is 90 amps and just adequate for the car when it is fully stock. Several vendors sell 110a alternators, Hervey sells these and even more powerful ones in case you are installing a new stereo and hungry amplifier, etc. Do keep in mind that more powerful alternators have a trade off. Generally the higher the amperage the higher the engine RPMs have to be before it will kick on. My 140a alternator does not charge the battery at slow idle - it will not begin to charge until I hit about 900rpms. If I have the headlights, my new stereo and the AC all running my voltage does dip and then decline while sitting at a red light, even though I have a bigger alternator. My car has never stalled or died as a result, but if I sat long enough it could eventually. Good luck... Tom ________________________________ From: dmcnews@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:dmcnews@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of sweetp01569 Sent: Monday, July 02, 2007 12:32 PM To: dmcnews@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [DML] Bad Alternator? For the past several months, the bearings on my alternator would squeal a bit when starting the engine. (I have an 82 with 30,000 miles on it). My mechanic confirmed that I'd need a new one sooner or later. On Saturday, when I started the car for a ride, the engines started right up,then all of a sudden, cut out. I started it again, it ran for a few seconds, then just died again. The car started the third time, allowing me to start down the street. After a couple of miles, the engine just died again, where I had to coast to a stop on the side of the road. The car would not start after that. It would crank and crank, but did not fire up. The voltmeter showed about 8 volts. After getting it towed home, I jumpered the fuel pump to make sure it turned on. It did. I then tried to start the car. It kicked on for a second then died. Battery still seems to crank strongly, but no ignition. Voltage still shows about 8 volts. Is this symptoms of a bad alternator? Thanks, Paul vin10944 [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] To address comments privately to the moderating team, please address: moderators@xxxxxxxxxxx For more info on the list, tech articles, cars for sale see www.dmcnews.com To search the archives or view files, log in at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dmcnews Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dmcnews/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dmcnews/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:dmcnews-digest@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx mailto:dmcnews-fullfeatured@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: dmcnews-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/