One thing all my alternator failures have had in common is they have always died when there was an excessive drain on the electrical system, and I revved the engine to high RPMs.
I've also noticed on my own car that when the alternator is working extra hard to compensate for a drain, I'll hear a slight whining noise through my stereo speakers that changes with the engine speed.
My sound system is grounded well; engine whine through the speakers is not normal on my car.
I once heard the same noise through my stereo. I tried charging the battery, but it was still fully charged so that obviously wasn't what was making the alternator overwork. So until I could figure it out, I knew to keep the rpm low.
While on a subsequent trip, the car started overheating while I was at a light. It turned out that my radiator fan was struggling to spin, and was thus causing a higher than normal drain on the electrical system. I replaced the fan, and the problems were gone.
Just one example of how one component failure can take out other components.
That excessive drain from the fan could have caused the alternator to overheat and fail. Then the car runs off just the battery, and drains it dry.
Now you need a new fan, a new alternator, and possibly even a new battery. $$$
Hopefully this will be of use to someone. I don't know if other Marks will have that sign to warn of a problem, but mine does and I know what to watch for now.
BTW, the CTEK 3300 is a good battery charger. It cost me about $75, is very compact, and is safe to use on those hard to charge batteries like those from Optima.
