ChuckB,

I had a similar thing happen to me with my '86 240 in December... lights began to dim, radio started flaking out, car eventually developed a rough idle and would not keep running unless I kept the RPM's up. Eventually died and would not restart.

I checked the voltage at the battery... 9.6volts!!

After I checked the alternator, I found two problems:

1. The little red wire was not making good contact -> replaced female spade connector and cleaned male contact, and

2. The black ground wire that attaches to the engine block had corroded and was not making good contact.

I replaced the black ground wire and cleaned those contacts, and cleaned the contacts of the large red wire.

Also, I cleaned the battery posts and connectors really well and bought a new battery at SprawlMart for $39.99.

What a difference now. She starts great (even down to -15 F ) and spins the motor fast.

Unrelated, but you might also clean the coil contacts and the 25A fuse for good measure while you are doing the alternator.

Hope this works for you...

Good Luck!

TomD
'86 240
'93 240