thanks for the replies. Smiley, you are correct. that is what I was getting at. I was able to salvage another month on a bad alternator by turning on the lights until that eventually wasn't enough to keep the current consistent. I'm not very knowledgeable on electricity and was just curious about why it was necessary to design the alternator to act the way it does--it's my understanding that the volts drop on purpose as load/rpms increase.

re: the other replies, it sounds like alternators are an equalizer of sorts. if most every vehicle is equally susceptible, how easy is it to replace the alternators on other vehicles, just curious as my trooper and an '87 tercel are the only vehicles i've ever worked on? replacing mine was a pita, mainly because of the lack of access...maybe it would have been easier if i would have disconnected the auto tranny coolant lines. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif" alt="" />

thanks, taro