H E L P

[Michael Williams]

I had a problem with my car this morning. It is an 89 100. It is a rainy
day so when I left for work I had on my wipers, headlights, radio and
heat. As I was going I thought I noticed the dash lights getting dimmer.
Some of the dash lights are burned out but I can normally see the
voltage gauge but I couldn't see it. As I pulled off the Parkway I was
able to shine some light on it and saw that it was below 12v. Not
wanting to get stuck 20 miles away from home I turned around and headed
back. No sooner had I turned around then the battery warning light came
up on the dash and the dash lights got dimmer. On the Parkway back
(praying all the way) the car would sputter, the dash lights would
flicker high and low and other warning lights would flicker on and off.
I think the only thing I was missing was the robot from "Lost in Space"
shouting "WARNING, WARNING!!!". I turned off the headlights but left on
the parking lights, off with the radio and heater and just used the
wipers on an as needed basis. As I was driving the sputtering and light
flickering went away and by the time I got home I was able to put my
lights back on and I could see that the voltmeter was now over 12v.
Ok, what should I be looking for on this. Altenator or Voltage
regulator? I know it was running off the battery but if the altenator
was bad would the battery have recharged itself in the 20 miles back
home? Any insight would be GREATLY appreciated
Thanks
Mike Williams