hi all, so im back form a few days at the beach, and have been able to conduct a few more tests on the car.
 
Whilst I have done these test, im not really sure what they tell me.
 
1) I pulled the Indicator light wire off the back of the alternator, and earthed it to the body of the alternator itself with the accessories on. The charge indicator light lit up nice and bright. If my understanding is correct this tell me that the globe is working, as is the connection between the IND terminal of the alternator, and the globe in the dash.??
 
2) The other test I did was to build a small test light setup, with an alligator clip on the positive side, a female spade terminal on the negative side, and a 5w bulb in the middle. I took the charge indicator wire off the back of the alternator and plugged the negative side of test rig in its place. I then hooked the alligator clip to the yellow wire on the back of the alternator (which I believe is the positive side). In effect bypassing, or rebuilding another version of) the dash indicator light. With the accessories on, the light did not light up, and with the car running, it still did not charge.
 
I also tried the same test with the positive clip on the positive terminal of the battery instead of the positive on the back of the alternator.
 
So, both of these test lead my feeble brain to wondering if the alternator has pooped itself. Is it normal for an alternator to die so quickly without any real signs of being on the way out?.
 
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
 
Dave

Hi Dave,
 
Your tests tell me your Alt is rooted too.  Take it to a auto elec and find out once and for all.
 
They pretty much either work or they don't. 
 
Good luck,
 
Matt

Hi matt,

So while I was sitting down having dinner tonight, I remembered I had one more alternator buried away in a cupboard. I grabbed it and installed it, went to start the car and it was completely dead ( even though it had been on a charge for about 5 hours.) i gave the battery a quick load test and it was COMPLETELY stuffed. Held zero charge and the cells inside we're knackered.

So I grabbed the battery our of my car as a loaner and changed over to the third alternator. As soon as I turned to accessories, the charge Indictator lamp came on. It also went out when I started the car. The charge was a little low ( about 12.9 volts) but I'm putting this down to maybe it being a bit old. Even though it was charging, the charge indicator light was on very dull..........maybe a funny alternator.

Either way I think I've broken the back of the problem.

Dave