Quote:
Originally Posted by SpyderMike
"But what still puzzles me is why the alternator was not charging when I ran the car with a drained battery, and then came back to life after I trickle charged the battery?"
I think the alternator is excited by voltage through the alternator warning light (as previously mentioned). Once excited the alternator should produce. You haven't mentioned if that warning light is turning on with key switch on but not to the start position.
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The normal sequence is I turn the key and the light comes on and stays on after car is started. I hit the gas and after about 2000RPM the light will go off and then I see the voltage climb to 14V so I know alternator is activated. This is how it’s been since I’ve owned the car for 10yrs. However, the time in question I jump started the car, no lights came on and the voltage stayed at ~9V even after I revved the engine, so clearly the alternator was not activated. Also none of the dash gages were working.