I noticed last night that when I turned the car off the Alternator light (battery icon) came on initially it flashed about 5-10 times, then came on steady.

My son and I were delivering invitations to his 7th birthday party on this trip (many stops) and toward the end, the engine cranked slowly when trying to start it, then all the dash lights were coming on when the RPMS dropped to idle and the transmission was not shifting properly. All indications that the battery was getting low. I skipped the last couple of stops and went home.

I pulled the ground cable and put the battery on the charger overnight. This morning, I started the car let it warm up. Using the simple test of a volmeter across the battery terminals, I saw 12.6 volts at idle, and about 13.8 and 2500RPM.

When I saw this problem with the Alternator light on and the car off (in my 83 BMW 320), it was a shorted diode or bad regulator in the alternator.

Am I looking at replacing the alternator or is there another possiblity that needs to be investigated first?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Austin, TX