Went and did the simplest and cheapest thing first, and just changed out the regulator (free exchange at autozone since the other one had warranty). They looked at the back of it and saw brown marks around the black square portion of the regulator, and also that black square portion was indented where they said it should be flat. Their conclusion was that it had issues, so I got a new one (in the photo is that black square of the new one). So I thought, ah maybe that's it, and put it on and still had the same dim lights, and funky meter readings as before...crap! Next looking at the battery it is a 980 crank optima, but looking at my receipts I see I got it in 2006, so that may be next in line to change. I am now watching that to see how long it takes to discharge by just sitting for a while. Tried testing the car as well just with the headlights on and car not running for a few minutes figuring maybe the battery would peter out after a few minutes, and I even kicked on the fan a little bit to draw some more out of it. But voltage drop wasn't real bad just for that little test. Went from about 12.5 to 12.2 with lights off in both instances reading the meter. As you can see I am trying to avoid the alternator (wishing it isn't that in my dreams), because it means removing the bulk head, and I think I had to do drivers seat as well last time I was in that area, so I was trying the simpler things first. Or I could just leave it as is, as maybe it has always been this way. ItalFord seems to indicate it may just be the type of alternator & regulator type, and I have heard this too on the web. As long as it isn't overcharging, then no big deal to me.
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