Hi All,

Over the past few weeks I've noticed a quick decline in the health of my '84 245DL.

The last time I drove the car, the engine shook pretty bad and had difficulty running without me keeping the RPMs up with my foot on the gas. I circled the block, parked it, having decided against driving it any further.

Today, I try to start it and the battery doesn't have enough charge to turn it over.

So I have this theory, that maybe my alternator is bad, and that it was putting extra load on the engine, causing it to shake badly and run rough, and that the last few times I've driven it, it wasn't charging the battery? I heard no belts or bearings squealing, but I really don't have another reason to account for the dead battery?

It has been a colder winter than usual in Seattle, we got into freezing temps, and I thought perhaps that I had a cracked vacuum hose. But the engine shaking seemed too severe, and I had all mounts replaced in the last year.

Please let me know if my theory is bogus before I tear the alternator out! :)