TR battery not charging diagnosis

Hey folks, 10 minutes to driving the new-to-me ‘88 TR to get it registered the charging light came on. My cigarette lighter VM shows voltage dropping from 12V down to 10 in a few mins.

Made it back home, charged up the battery and trying to diagnose if it’s an alternator/rectifier issue or something else. The alt belt is still on and spinning, and VM at battery confirms ciggy lighter readings. Given the position of the alt, (and presumably the rectifier is inside it?), is there a good diagnosis point where I can isolate and check alt voltage? What other steps can I take to confirm it’s the alternator and not a short elsewhere or other issue?

BTW, I saw a thread where Steve suggested checking AC volts, both my digital and analog meters show 24-25 VAC.

Prior to this the car ran fine but I did notice that all external lights would flicker while the car was cold idling, not sure if that portends anything or if it’s just the nature of the TR’s charging system.
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Looking at the workshop manual, it appears that the alternator output wire joins the battery circuit at the starter terminal.

No 50 on the schematic says:
“50 - Alternator charging circuit failure optical indicator (L. 12V - 2W red)”
Is this the dashboard battery warning light or something else?
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So I pulled the alternator and took it to an Autozone to test, they’ve confirmed that it’s not working. The youngster was unable to be more specific. There appears to be a replacement available for about $100. IF you’re in the US, would the tribal wisdom be to take to an old school alternator/starter shop for a rebuild or buy new?

Interestingly, I did not have to remove engine mounts and lift/drop one side of the engine like the other threads mentioned, I found enough clearance to extract the pivot bolt.



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