My 1995 GMC K1500 seems to have a serious issue with the alternator. I started it up this morning and it seemed to be running rough. I pulled out my my driveway and noticed I needed to keep on the gas to keep from stalling. It has done this in the past when sitting a few days but usually clears up quickly. Today I noticed the gauges were all acting strange and then it completely stalled out and wouldn't restart - battery completely dead. I replaced the battery (which was 2 years old) and soon after connecting the cables I smelled something hot. I felt the small alternator to positive battery wire which was very hot, and the alternator itself was very hot. I quickly disconnected the positive cable. The key was removed and off the entire time, so there should have been no draw.
Am I looking at a failed diode with a dead short in the alternator? Alternator is over 10 years old and unknown brand. I'm going to order a new AC Delco off Rockauto, but is there anything I can try to bench test the old one just to verify?
Am I looking at a failed diode with a dead short in the alternator? Alternator is over 10 years old and unknown brand. I'm going to order a new AC Delco off Rockauto, but is there anything I can try to bench test the old one just to verify?