Engine Bay Electrical Slant 6
Every thing was going well until I disconnected (with the car running) the postive lead to my battery to make sure the alternater was working
Tim
Probably just blew out the lamps.
BUT
I've tried and tried to get this across to you guys
DO NOT do this
This is NOT a legitimate test of anything, and it proves NOTHING
You will never find this "procedure" in any shop manual, text book, or being taught in any class
When you disconnect an alternator like this, the system produces a huge voltage spike that can go over a hundred volts, and the newer your car is, the more likely that you'll "kill" some solid state device.
And, it does not prove good or bad
If you happen to remove the cable at a very low idle, when the alternator is not putting out enough, the engine might die even though the charging system is OK -- so wrong result
If the alternator has as many as 4 open diodes (of 6) or one or two bad stators, it MIGHT put out enough to operate the ignition system, even though it's only putting out a fraction of it's power. So in this case, you might be led to believe it's OK--so wrong result.
