I had a charging problem in my 94 Buick that was causing the car to shut down sometimes which I repeatedly misdiagnosed because the voltmeter in the dash showed what appeared to be normal operation. I'd already replaced the battery as it was old, and several parts in the injection and engine management system before I finally discovered that the voltmeter was just displaying what the computer told it to; it was not directly measuring voltage as I thought it did. Being an analog gauge it was the exact same type a real voltmeter would have been so I could never understand why anyone would do it that way but they did. I learned that when the alternator failed completely and they guy at a rebuilder's shop told me about it. Even with the rebuilt unit I was still having problems but at least now I was monitoring things with a real voltmeter I'd hooked up. It finally turned out that one of the computer grounds located under a door sill had corroded slightly and that was not only giving a wrong gauge reading but preventing the computer-controlled alternator from administering a proper charge. Once I fixed that I never had any more charging problems with that car.
The more I know about the cars of today the less I like them. Most of the technology in them is about 'dazzle', not best functioning, and in extracting the utmost in fuel efficiency without regard to cost, reliability, repairability, or longevity. Even women aren't this bad...
Phil
