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[theunnamed1]

When I bought my Capri it had a dead battery and a dead alternator. I replaced them both.  I had no problems until the belt started slipping and I was loosing charge. I replaced the belt and again everything was fine until the battery gauge was reading above normal and the battery light came on and off randomly. I drove it anyways for two days and on the third day the battery gauge was at a normal level again for the first half hour of driving. During the later half hour of driving I had my radio and lights on  and about 20 minutes in the airbag light started flashing three times, the lights dimmed, radio shut off, battery gauge bottomed out and car wouldn't go above 35 mph. The battery light never came on like it had when I first bought the car and the alternator was bad. Now the car is no crank no start. I haven't tried to jump it yet.

Like I said, alternator and battery are new. They shouldn't have died this quickly. I was told to ask if this car has an external voltage regulator or is it built into the alternator? If it has an external could that have gone bad? Or do you think it has something to do with the alternator?

[Rocketman]

Sounds like you got one of the crappy rebuilt alternators. They're internally regulated - external regulators are a thing of the past for the most part, I think anyways.

Either way, some of the rebuilt alternators are hit & miss, not just with the Capri. I've had piss poor luck with the ones Advance Auto sells.

The belt needs to be tighter if you're getting a squeal. If it shreds belts, you have the wrong pulley on the alternator.

The airbag light blinking was probably indicating low voltage in the system.

Check to make sure the alternator belt is still there. Battery light coming on is always a red flag for me, either the belt has shredded, or the alt is on it's way out. Pull over & check! Because if the belt is indeed gone you're no longer circulating water, and the car will run for a bit on the battery, more than long enough to catastrophically overheat the engine.

I've learned long ago to carry a spare belt & tools, saved mine & others butt's several times. (Looking at YOU Josh!) lol

[theunnamed1]

Finally pulled the alternator... It stopped working because it caught on fire!!! :O Positive battery wire that connects to the alternator was melted bad. Got so hot that the metal connector seared right through the bolt that it connects to on the alternator. Alternator is charred  real good.. Thank goodness my whole car didn't catch fire. Please tell me this happened because the alternator was running at a high voltage and not because I have a short somewhere in the harness.

[blueamber]

 I have had terrible results with rebuilding the bosch alternators that were installed on early 91's.  The new regulators for them are china hit or miss crap.

If the main line to the battery is melted, that means the regulator shorted the 12 volts to ground.

This may be a serious situation happening if all rebuilders are starting to use these crappy parts, both in the rebuilders shop, and suppliers of rebuilds to parts stores.

Not sure where to go next as a capri owner with identifying these parts as defective and stopping their use, if there is a danger of a car fire.

I  eventually installed a mitsubishi plug and alternator in my 91, no problems...Chris

[mitch1204]

Finally pulled the alternator... It stopped working because it caught on fire!!! :O Positive battery wire that connects to the alternator was melted bad. Got so hot that the metal connector seared right through the bolt that it connects to on the alternator. Alternator is charred  real good.. Thank goodness my whole car didn't catch fire. Please tell me this happened because the alternator was running at a high voltage and not because I have a short somewhere in the harness.

Alternators actually produce AC voltage and the bridge rectifier diodes convert it back to DC. I'd say one of them diodes went bad causing the mess.

There is no telling the secondary damage from the short. It is possible for other electronics like the ECM to suffer as well. Replace the alternator and hot cable and go from there.