i just bought an 88 vert last night. we replaced the alternator because that was what we at least thought was initially dead. we jumped it because the battery hadn't had any charge for say a month. it ran fine for a few minutes then we cut it off too soon i guess because it wouldn't crank on it's own when we tried again. we jumped it again and it idled fine for a few minutes and then we shut it off to go inside to do the paperwork (bill of sale etc.) we came back out and tried to crank and it wouldn't. so we put another battery in (apparently a hot one) because it cranked right up. we then drove home, a good 20 mins or so back to my house, then not but maybe 2 miles from my house the lights started dimming and we had to clutch kick it in 2nd to keep it alive while we pulled into a parking lot and left it there for the night. so my question is, is my battery draining off somthing? is it not holding a charge? and also on the way back to my house every now and then all the accessory lights would blink. so im thinking maybe bad ground wire from battery? all help would be really appreciated, thanks

 

It is possible you are experiencing a battery drain, but it would have to be very large to cause these problems. With a freshly charged battery, do you get a shower of sparks when you connect it?

When you replace an alternator, you should also replace the battery. A bad alternator will destroy a battery fairly quickly through under/over charging, and then your bad battery will damage your new alternator by overloading.

Also, is the little two pin connection plugged in on the back of the alternator?

What condition are the battery cables in?

Is the thick wire from the alternator to the fuse panel burned?

 

well it's still in the parking lot as of right now, we're about to go get it in a few minutes and ill check over all that when i get it here