[Volvosaurus]

The latest:- The Youtube Bench-Testing video really is excellent. Thanks for sharing this.

However, I was unable to get a reading of 14-ish on the voltmeter (drop tester) when spinning the alternator. Both "old" and "new" did the same. I still can't work out what I was doing wrong - the only thing missing was a ohm meter. The voltmeter was across the test battery terminals, which were showing around 9v.

Gung-ho decision moment:- install the new alternator to the car and see if it gives 14-ish with the engine running. Such is the mechanic-friendliness of the 960's power train, it took around an hour to put everything back, PAS pump, radiator hose, leads, etc.

Et voila! Lights off at the dash, 14.5 at the car battery. Beer time.

I've probably been over-thinking the whole snag, but my lingering concern is that some rogue current comes in via the D+ and cooks this regulator.

The seat issue may just be coincidental, as Forrest has pointed out. Can anyone point me in the direction of a schematic wiring diagram? The passenger side seat is fine. Is there a relay that I could swap from left to right to test? I am aware that an accumulation of everything from sausage roll pastry to dead skin can stop switches in this area working. These switches are a touch intricate, so I am reluctant to take it apart. Testing at the connector with probe tips probably the place to start.

Thanks, all,. once again. Meanwhile, I have been replacing the rear axle sub-frame on a teenage Suzuki Swift, persuading rusted fasteners, repiping and fitting wheel cylinders, and at the point where this car was ready to be returned to a friend of ours, who needs it for commuting (and vital breadwinning), the alternator bearing decided to seize (the car had stood since early-January). The device was truly hemmed in, and I had to detach the timing side engine mount and lower the engine to release it. Playing with the Volvo was so much easier in access terms, and I bear the scars typically inflicted by working on a transverse-engine car. Meanwhile, customers needed my services, and the gloom and weariness related to a nasty virus painted everything grey, with a topping of "catastrophisation".

It's great character-building stuff, but at 63, I thought I might not need so much.

Eventually, however, we will drive things that are virtually disposable, so I suppose I ought to enjoy the spannering experience while I can.

Thanks, all.