I stupidly shorted out my electrical system while attempting to jump start my car (don't ask). The reason I had to jump start at all was because the battery is 10+ years old (says a lot for Diehard batteries) and was showing its age. I have a cutoff switch that I believe has had made a big difference even though I start the car every three weeks during the off season.

After replacing the battery with a new Diehard this morning, I find that the charging system shows 13 volts only above 700 engine rpm, below that it drops to 8 volts (as low as the gauge goes). While running, the gauges flickered, especially the voltage gage, and stepping on the brakes brought the voltage down to 8 (or less). After running until the engine was warm, I shut it off and found that the battery was completely dead - the turn signals wouldn't even work.

It sounds to me like the alternator has a problem, assuming the brand new battery is not the issue. I'm confused though, at how the alternator can keep the engine running, but not charge the battery. I'm going to run the multimeter tests described in another post just to see if I can get any more insights. I'll also take the alternator to a local shop for testing, but it's now Saturday afternoon and it's difficult to wait until Monday AM. This is a nice weekend, too.

Thanks everyone.
Dorsey