good battery & dead alternator? how many miles of driving???

[madmaxEKhatchB18C5]

well here's a pretty lame question....but sumthin maybe someone has some experience with....

my alternator is dead....tested it by the run car method and disconnect neg. battery terminal....car dies immediately...

there's a brand new battery in the car....

it's a D16Y7 and i need one more trip out of the car to get it to the shop FINALLY for the engine swap.....

i'd rather not buy another alternator right before my swap, so....how many miles do you think i can drive (highway and some city) before the car dies?

i'm planning on having my girlfriend follow me to the garage so i can jump the car as needed.....

any estimates/guesstimates on how much travel i can get out of the car appreciated.....thanks....

[1995 geo tracker]

even if the alt. is good the car is going to die when you take off the neg. battery cable , get a volt meter or go to a part store and have them check it to make sure it is your alt

[madmaxEKhatchB18C5]

i read on here that the battery neg terminal thing was a sloppy way to assess the alternator....

my other symptoms include speedometer that flies all over the place and lights that dim in tune with the floating hum/idle of the engine....

i may try to get it to an auotzone to have them confirm it's the alternator....otherwise the voltmeter test would be the easiest.....do you check it at the connection coming off the alternator or at the battery terminal....any info on the voltmeter test is appreciated....my electrical knowledge isn't too hot....

thoughts on miles i could get b4 she dies??

[Geeko]

not many. on my 87 tempo i blew an alternator belt, and barley made it 5 miles across town before it died. even then, the last bit was bloody hard to drive. it suxx0red, majorly.

my suggestion is to get AAA to tow it if you have AAA, or find a friend who does and have them get AAA to tow it. i've done this before- as long as it has current tags they'll tow it virtually anywhere.

[madmaxEKhatchB18C5]

geeko....thanks, i'm gonna call my insurance company and see if i have some sort of coverage for this sort of thing....5 miles huh?.....i was hoping it would be closer to 15....then my "final drive" before the swap is at least possible....but if it's 5 miles....there's no way i would risk it.....tow job on the horizon.....

[Miataracer]

the less things you have turned on the farther you will be able to get on just battery... like no lights, no stereo, no climate control fan, etc

[madmaxEKhatchB18C5]

so, the alternator problem was solved last night and then quickly un-solved.....

the alternator fuse was blowing every time i tried to have the headlights on (which i didn't realize at first).....

i replaced the fuse and the car was running perfectly....ran it on a few short trips and then tried running it a little at night with the headlights on.....5 minutes into the trip, the CEL goes off and the car is hurting, so i turned off the headlights and drove home with just parking lights.....i noticed when i got home that the cooling fan would not come on.....the car was damn hot, but cooling fan wasn't trying to help out.....

THEN...replaced the alternator fuse again....at this point i had to pull out the rear defrost and the heater/A/C fuses because i had blown so many fuses already....
now, i'm keeping the headlights off, but after the car is on for even just 1 minute, it blows the alternator fuse again....eventhough the headlights are off.....

WHAT IS IT?
1. there is a short in the headlight circuit somewhere, which was draining current and causing the alternator to get overworked and blow its fuse....but, then why are there still problems with the lights off? cooling fan circuit has a short too??
2. the voltage sensor of the alternator is fried now and is blowing the fuse as soon as the alternator gets moving and cranking out excessive current?
3. pulling the fuses from the rear defrost and heater/A/C circuits is causing an alternator malfunction....producing excessive current and shorting the alternator....

SO, I'd obviously prefer #3, then i just run to auotozone and get more fuses, fill up the holes in the fuse box with the appropriate fuses and my only issue would be a malfunctioning cooling fan...which should still let the car get me out to do the swap...

where should i start....use a voltmeter, or multimeter?
test which circuits at what points of attatchment?

THANKS TO ANYONE WITH THE PATIENCE TO READ ALL THIS.....and more thanks to someone who can help....