Sorry for no correspondence on this post for a couple of months. Basically, I replaced any burnt/missing bulbs in the dash, and remounted the alternator, making sure that the ground was solid, and all connections were tight, and it has been charging for the last two months. Then, my stepson (his car)screwed up his wiper motor, changed it out, and accidentally left the key on for about 15 minutes, ran the battery down, and now it is dead in the water again. I put a known good battery in the car and it was charging at 14.15vdc. He drove it 25 miles, parked it and it wouldn't start again. It had ran the battery down in 25 miles, even though when it left here, it was charging at 14.15!! How can this be??

Let me back up a little. I had knee surgery as noted in the orig. post. Then, one month later, I had emergency exploratory surgery for a perforated bowl. So, I have been through hell, and am still beat up. I cannot work on cars right now (have to have another major surgery to reconnect intestine) or in the near future, so I am having to try to tell my stepson what to do. Very frustrating.

Could bad battery cables be the problem? They are kind of green looking......