[thedudek05]

For about a week or so (shame on me) I had the alternator light come on in my 1987 3.2 with increasing frequency. Once the engine warmed and I was under power it tended to wane/disappear (this is in heavy stop-and-go SoCal traffic).

At last the radio cut out while driving home and I could feel a lack of power when accelerating. Nursed it home to the driveway where once turned off it would not restart.

I assumed (likely first mistake) that this was an alternator issue and replacing it would solve the problem. I ordered a BBB Industries 14892 Alternator (remanufactured) off of Amazon (possible second mistake) and swapped the alternators. I did have some trouble tightening the nut on the fan initially (the alternator post was also spinning as I tried to tighten the nut) but was able to work that out. The fan belt appears to be under good tension (all five shims outside) and not slipping.

I used a portable jump pack to jump the battery and get the car running. The battery is less than two years old and the terminals are clean. I was able to drive the car about five miles, though the alternator light continued to come on at idle. The radio again died at some point. Eventually the car died while idling at a stop light and I learned how easy 911s are to push.

Tonight I'm planning to grab a voltmeter and check outputs, but it seemed unlikely that a relatively new battery would be the issue. That being said, I'm not well versed in this, so I may be overlooking something.

Any ideas? Is there a good chance the replacement alternator isn't up to par? Other electrical system issues I should investigate?

Thanks all!