I have a problem, my alternator on my 88 maro has slowly been dying on me. the car would stall at every red light and the voltage and amps would drop. I decided to replace it finally, but the one I bought was the wrong size. so I put the old one back in. this is my problem, when I started the car the voltage jumped up to 18 and stuck, all my lights got brighter, this scared my so I turned the car off. when I went to restart the car nothing happened. I tested to see if the battery was dead but it is still putting out voltage at the battery(I tested with a multimeter) but when I put the lights on nothing happens. I know when a battery is dying, it still makes the lights light, but the are real dim. this is not the case for me. my entire car is dead. can anyone give me an idea what the problem is?

 

Did it turn over but not start? Sounds like what happened to Karl (KED85).....I believe he had a problem where his alternator was surging power and killing his ignition control modules. Without the ICM, you can crank and crank but the car will never run. If it pegged the gauge out, something's definitely wrong there...sounds like the voltage regulator blew.

 

it turned over an ran for a few seconds before i turned it off. but nothing happens now, when i turn the key nothing happens, it doesn't even try to crank. would a blown voltage regulator shut the whole car down, like it is now?

 

I doubt it... It should still try to crank if the battery has juice. Is your Security light coming on with the key in the 'On' position? (Assuming your car has VATS)

Have you tried jumping the starter solenoid from under the car? I'm wondering if there's some wiring problem there.

 

check for power at the starter. your alternator full fielded. my guess is you have a problem with a fuseable link

 

where can I find the fusible links? my Hanes manual has a schematic but it does not tell me the physical location.

 

I checked all the fusible links and they were fine. I was very upset so I sat in my car and tried the headlights again and nothing, then I tried the heater and when I turned it on it made a familiar noise for a split second. I decided to turn the key and try the heater again, when I turned the key the car started and the voltage was normal everything ran fine. what the hell happened to my car that made it go completely dead one day, to running fine the next day?

 

Maybe a bad ground?