Alternator Output??
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 1,243
Likes: 2
From: Las Vegas, NV.
Alternator Output??
Curious if I am seeing the beginnings of the end of my alternator or if the readings are normal so please comment on what you see in your car.
Recently (i.e over 100 degree weather here) I noticed that the volt guage in the car would drop down to just above 12 V (guessing like 12.5 volts) when I have the lights, A/C, Stereo on at an idle, but goes back up near 13 volts once I start going. With everything off it sits at just below 14V steady.
Would this be normal operation given the temps here? What are you guys experiencing?
TIA
Recently (i.e over 100 degree weather here) I noticed that the volt guage in the car would drop down to just above 12 V (guessing like 12.5 volts) when I have the lights, A/C, Stereo on at an idle, but goes back up near 13 volts once I start going. With everything off it sits at just below 14V steady.
Would this be normal operation given the temps here? What are you guys experiencing?
TIA
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 1,243
Likes: 2
From: Las Vegas, NV.
Well I think I might have answered my own question by taking a bit more of a scientific approach to it.
I wired up my multimeter so that I could see the output from it while sitting in the drivers seat. Here is what I found:
No loads (other than normal things when car is started) - 13.6 V
A/C on High - 13.3V
A/C and hedlights on low beams - 13.15V
A/C, Headlights on high beams - 13.05V
A/C, Hedalights on high beams, Stereo on at medium volume - 13.03 V
After doing those one at a time I went back to zero load and the output was 13.5 V. Lower than the original 13.6V I started with
So I am inclined to believe that the alternator is not producing what it should. Battery BTW is brand new (about 2 months old).
Any feedback would be nice.
Also wondering about difficulty of replacing the alternator. Anyone done it?
Tom, what did you end up doing for your alternator problem from these threads?
https://rennlist.com/forums/showthre...ght=alternator
https://rennlist.com/forums/showthre...ght=alternator
Did you go for the one that KPG pointed out? Any word on the GT3 alternator being better and/or working in this car? How has your car been doing since?
Thanks again.
I wired up my multimeter so that I could see the output from it while sitting in the drivers seat. Here is what I found:
No loads (other than normal things when car is started) - 13.6 V
A/C on High - 13.3V
A/C and hedlights on low beams - 13.15V
A/C, Headlights on high beams - 13.05V
A/C, Hedalights on high beams, Stereo on at medium volume - 13.03 V
After doing those one at a time I went back to zero load and the output was 13.5 V. Lower than the original 13.6V I started with
So I am inclined to believe that the alternator is not producing what it should. Battery BTW is brand new (about 2 months old).
Any feedback would be nice.
Also wondering about difficulty of replacing the alternator. Anyone done it?
Tom, what did you end up doing for your alternator problem from these threads?
https://rennlist.com/forums/showthre...ght=alternator
https://rennlist.com/forums/showthre...ght=alternator
Did you go for the one that KPG pointed out? Any word on the GT3 alternator being better and/or working in this car? How has your car been doing since?
Thanks again.
