Ok - after a no start condition caused me to do a Crank Position Sensor replacement, I figured I'd do the alternator as well since my instrument lights had been coming on intermittently prior to the no start.

so I found a remanufactured alternator in a 1987 240 in the junkyard, clean... so I thought it might be a fairly new alternator. It looked exactly the same as the one in my 1990 so I put it in the car.

oddly I experienced a very bright dashboard at night (no longer the dim lighting I had become so accepting of) and the wipers seemed to move faster than normal. The instrument lights still came on periodically though not as frequently as before

I figured I'd eventually have to check all of my grounds to see if one was corroded...

then I started smelling rotten eggs, did a search on the board... probably bad gas... I kept driving... yesterday the smell was really bad so I opened the hood and heard a hissing sound... from the battery... and it was smoking! after it cooled I checked the cells and they were dry and blackened.

I put some more water in them and checked the voltage across the terminals while running ... started at 13.25 and slowly climbed to 15 V without revving the engine. I turned the car off before it could climb too much farther since it seemed to just continue to go up.

Seems like the voltage regulator on the remanned alternator is bad.

what do you guys think?

and what are the odds my battery will still work after I figure out what's been smokin it!?

thanks

jack

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Bad Blue - '86 245 with 303,000 mi. (now for parts), Good Green 1990 245 with 178,000 mi., Blacky - '91 740 wagon with 180,000 mi., Mean Green - '94 850 with 222,000