Charging system got me confused...

[Army_Dude]

My voltmeter on my dash almost always read about 14 to 15. Well yesterday on the way to work it barely read 12. I came home for lunch and pulled the alternator and took it to AutoZone and had them check it. They said it was good. Tonight while driving it was flirting with the 13 but not past it. The reason this is an issue is because twice it has left me stuck. I try to crank it and all I get is a click. Thats when I started to notice the drop on the gauge. I checked and cleaned all my connections. Any Ideas or suggestions? It seems to be a intermittent problem.

[jermasaurus]

Maybe when it was bench tested it could supply the voltage. But with loads like lights, blower motor, wipers, etc... the alternator may not keep up- especially at idle.

If you have a voltmeter, I would try to observe battery voltage at idle with no loads and then with them. Good Luck

-Jeremy

[smokinn]

Mine does the same thing. But with mine all I have to do is rev the engine once up high to get it to jump up. I could replace the Alt but dont have the time and it's never left me anywhere walking.

Jason

[87 STEPPER]

I think the first thing id do is have the battery load tested unless it's new if thats ok then id replace both bettery cables and maybe even the pwr supply wire from the alt.

Alot of times battery cables can look ok but internally there corroded and that can cause high resistance and cranking and charging problems.

Good luck.

[Army_Dude]

yeah that wouldn't be a bad idea anyway (cables). It only seems to have a lower charge in the morning. I'll try to check the batt today and post results.

[GoobersBlueBurban]

If the battery has a lower charge in the morning you might have something that is draining your battery during the night such as a dome light or something small. I would go head and replace the cables and be sure to use the battery cable ends that crimp on. They maybe more expensive, but they are much better than bolt on battery cable ends. If you replace the cables and you still have the same problem you might want to go to an alternator or start shop to have it checked out.