rustyboy

Right.apologies for the long post . I have a 52 plate 2 ltr tdci mondeo.i have owned it for a couple months.since owning it i have put a reverse light switch and a new starter motor. (both done a couple of weeks ago). About a week ago i took the car to visit my mom about 25 miles away. No lights came up on dash and car was running fine. I went to start it after about 15-20 mins of being in my moms and it struggled to start. It did start though and i went on a 5-10 min journey and when i went to restart it again it was dead. I managed to bump start It and drove it back to mine (approx 25 miles away) i turned it off outside mine and tried to restart straight away and it was still dead. I put the battery on charge over night and it fired up straight away after. I used the car over a period of 2 days,1st day total of approx 50-60 miles and some of that was with blower and wipeers on in the bad rain,2nd day total of approx 20-30 miles in which on way home the battery light came on dash and the dials stopped working and when i got home battery was dead again. I have changed it and am currently using it. I have had the car briefly looked at and they have tested battery with engine off and on and they say the volts aren't going up so its not getting charget from alternator.they also put the meter on the wire coming out of altetnator and they say no charge is coming out of it. So it needs a new alternate. i just want to know does this definitely sound like the alternate?? The only thing that confuses me is the length of time i can use the car without the battery getting any charge.surely the battery wouldn't run the car for 2 days with no charge going into it?? Also how come i am not getting battery warning light on dash constantly if alternate is duff? could it be something else?something easier and cheaper perhaps or am i just dreaming. Thanks in advance.

rustyboy

Forgot to say. It had a new fanbelt and tensioner kit before i bought it.