Firstfives.org

Yesterday I decided to test out my alternator, so i connected my voltmeter to the battery with the car running and turned on everything. Shortly after, the voltage dropped to about 12.9 from 13.7 and the car died. When I tried to start it back up again, it wouldnt start. The engine just cranks and cranks with no hint of starting.

Would it be possible that some of the wiring got fried from having an increased electrical load? The car was running perfectly fine before.

Is the alternator on your car the original Bosch one? I recently had to replace my alternator in my '78 530i because a friend of mine was helping me install a new battery and (GASP) somehow we managed to hook it up backwards, subsequently frying the alternator. If yours is the Bosch alternator, it could be the voltage regulator. BTW, if you'd like a replacement Bosch alternator for your car, check Rockauto.com. I believe they have a couple refurbished ones for very good prices in stock on there.

-Chris

Unlikely you fried anything, but I'd have to see just where, what got connected. If it was connected correctly it would not hurt anything.

Alternators very rarely fail, regulators sometimes do. Not a lot, but some.

Well...the alternator's new.

The engine just seems to die by itself after it's idled for a couple minutes, after which it stops starting. I'm confident that there is no spark, and the coil only reads 4 volts with the key in the on position.

Not quite sure where to go from here, the car started after it had been sitting a while, and decides to call it quits at operating temp?

Wow. I starteda post like this a couple weeks ago. Having almos exactly the same simptoms. Hope we can figure something out. Ill stay alert.

Ah well, turns out that he HT wire was grounding against the air box, causing there to be no spark.

The distributor wire still crackles though, and it have me a good jolt when I touched it...

Where's a good place to get a good cheap set of plug and HT wires?