[reldridge]

So, last Tuesday, after driving to Kingston and back (3 hours round trip), and doing some running around in town, on my way home the lights started to dim on me. I turned off the radio, killed the blower motor, and limped it home. It was starting to buck and try to stall out just as I pulled in the driveway. I got it to the house and shut it down. Wouldn't restart, but all accessories would go.

I waited until after supper, then went out and fired it up. It started, and ran fine for a minute. I turned on everything (blower, radio, high beams, rear-defrost, etc.), and it died. It sat there as-is until today. I boosted it with the Mazda, and moved it into the garage. The car ran fine. I left it running for about 15 minutes, no problem. I shut it off, and it restarted fine. I shut it off again, and cracked open the manual and got out the volt meter.

-Before starting, the voltage (at the battery) was around 8 V.
-Running, the voltage was hovering around 11.58-11.60 V.
-After I shut it down, voltage was staying constant at 11.50-11.51 V at the battery.
-I just went out and tested again, and the battery has come back up to 11.99 V off.

I know my running voltage is low, so that suggests alternator. Should I look anywhere else? Cheapest I've found for an alternator is $186 (+ core charge). Really can't afford that a month before Christmas...

Any suggestions of where to look or what to check would be much appreciated!