[DML] Voltage Problem

[Joe Palatinus <jpalatinus@xxxx>]

Yesterday, when I began to drive around everything seemed normal. I went
to school fine, but then then I was on my way to a friends house, I noticed
that the voltage was down to 8, and that the battery light was beggining to
come on faintly. I arrive at my friends house, stop the car for about 4
hours, and when I came out and started the car, it went fine. Today I
drove to the autoparts store, and on the way there the battery light came
on brightly, and the voltage was around 8. I was scarcely able to come
home. I believe I was running completely off the battery. The car stoped
dead about 2 blocks from my house, and I was able to jump it and drive it
home. I believe that the alternator is bad, is this correct? I thought it
might be a short, but I removed all the fuses but the 3 top ones and it
still was below 8 volts. If I allow the car time to cool, I can jump it,
and the voltage will remain above 13 for a few minutes, then it goes down
to 8 again. Should I remove the alternator and take it to an auto parts
store to have them test it, or am I jumping into this problem too
fast?thanks for your input.
Joe P.
VIN 17167
6808