illinidirtfarmer - 11/18/2017 18:26

It turned out to be the resistor. I checked it with an ohm meter on a whim at got a zero resistance reading. Dealer happened to have one, stuck it on and all is good.
I dug out my old analog meter and what guys have said is correct, it read steady at the alternator connections both before and after I changed the resistor. Tried the digital ( not what I would call a cheap one, think I gave $135 for it a few years ago) and it still bounced all over. Learned something today.
Thanks for all the suggestions.