Well, I did something that I've done a hundred times and apparently it finally caught up with me.
The battery was down on my mother's 89 240 and I went down in my 85 245 to give her a boost. When I got there, her battery was completely dead...not enough power to even burn the interior light...so I left my engine running and hooked up the jumper cables to her car. I let my car sit and idle for about 30 minutes and then got into hers and cranked it up. I immediately got out and un-hooked the jumper cables...left her's running...got into my car and drove off.
As I was going up the road, I noticed a faint glow from the warning lights...all of them at the same time...Uh Oh! I thinks to myself.
As soon as I got home (6 Miles) I put the meter on my battery and sure enough, no charge from the alternator.
I've already replaced it with a spare, but I'm curious. What exactly caused my alternator to fail? I'm thinking it's the regulator. The smoke didn't escape from the alternator, so I think it's repairable.
Any opinions?
Thanks
steve