Well, I put the car up on the lift and looks like everything is OK with the starter cables. Nothing looks amiss underneath. Well almost nothing. I see that the stripped bolts on that turbo housing are still leaking oil slightly. Dammit.
Anyway, I broke out my battery/alternator tester and everything appears to be OK. Voltage on the battery with the engine not running was around 12.5 volts. Alternator was putting out 13.4 volts at the alternator hot wire. The DIC is now showing 13.1 volts.
But I still smell that burnt cotton candy smell, and it's definitely coming from the alternator windings. So I'm going to go ahead and replace it. I'm going to just go with a rebuilt unit from Advance Auto for now, since I can get one for $150 with a lifetime warranty on it. So even if it only lasts a year, I get free replacements. The chrome plating on the one I have now didn't last, so maybe that is just a frivolous bling that I can do without. I've got a couple of old alternators around here, so maybe I'll take one apart and see how tough they are to rebuild myself. That way I can polish the housing if I feel that ambitious.
Ah well, today would have been a real nice day to put some more miles on the car. But I don't want the alternator crapping out on me and then have to worry about getting back home before the battery died. I have to run up to the Advance Auto up on the west side of Tallahassee to pick it up, so not sure when I'll get up that way.