My wife left the lights on the other day and discharged the battery. After several unsuccessfull attempts to jump start the vehicle, I proceeded to buy a new battery. The car started right up and was fine for a day or so. Then the battery was dead again. Thinking it was the alternator, I bought a new one. Before I put the new one in, I tested the alternator wires and gave the vehicle a final once over. I found what appeared to be the problem. The fuseable wire between the starter and the alternator was blown.
So I had the old alternator tested and it was producing around 14 volts. I returned the new alternator, reinstalled the old one and put in a wire with a 30 amp fuse, between the alternator and the starter. Thinking I had found the problem, I started the car. All was working fine, but there was no power going from the alternator to the battery. In fact the voltage in the battery was decreasing.
Does anyone know what might be the problem? It's a fairly simple circuit and I have already tested the wires and there is voltage coming from the battery through them, when the key is turned on. Also, what is the amperage on the fuseable wire? I called the local Saturn dealership and they could not tell me what the amps were. But they were willing to sell me one..
Any thoughts would be much appreciated.
--Kevin