Hey there,

Well, before I installed my new wiring harness on my '82 TI whenever I really got on it the dash lights would light up for a moment and then go off...I figured a wire was loose and was grounding out or something causing the lights to go on I didn't think much of it and figured that it would go away after I installed a new wiring harness....

A month or two later the lights came on and stayed on, thankfully after crossing the Baton Rouge Bridge the car slowly lost power and died, it was running off of the battery, again I figured it must be the harness, so I got a new battery and got it home where it sat in the back yard till I installed the new harness, which I did.

The lights are still on but the car cranked over fine, I drove it around, this eventually killed the battery and it died as it had before, so I can say that the new wiring harness didn't fix the problem...

Then I wrote the board and it was suggested that I replace the brushes/regulator unit at the back of the alternator, this was also backed up by a former Volvo mechanic buddy, he said that he'd never seen an alternator fail really that it probably only needed some new brushes, so I got a new set and installed them, no dice, lights still on and I jumped the car, it cranked over and ran briefly till the battery lost juice.

So I'm wondering what angle I should go at this time, perhaps a ground? I dunno, is it possible that the alternator is indeed toast? As always any advice is appreciated.

Your old buddy, Josh Lasserre
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Best Regards,