[ghutchin]

I don't think that it is safe to disconnect the battery from the car. The battery stabilizes the entire car electrical system. I think disconnecting it could lead to undesirable voltage and current fluctuations that can damage sensitive electronics. Back when cars were a lot simpler, from an electronics standpoint, this probably wasn't a big deal.

I did some research, and it seems that the built in alternator fault detection mechanism does not always go off when an alternator is failing, so I'm pretty certain now that it is the alternator.

thanks for the input though