View single post by John Kimbrough
 Posted: 10-16-2005 11:37 am
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John Kimbrough

 

Joined: 03-12-2005
Location: Washington USA
Posts: 116
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 Did not see a subject directly addressing alternators so I thought I would start one. 

 The behavior of my stock (and original) alternator has seemed to change over the last year or so. 

1.  Upon engine start, the guage, at idle, will read 15 volts, just at the edge of the red.

2.  Then, on the road going through the gears with no headlights or other power users on it will then drop to somewhere in the 14-15 volt range. 

3.  When I turn on the headlights while on the road, the voltage drops a little, to 13-14 volts. 

4.  But at idle, with the lights on, the voltage drops to 10.5 volts. 

5.  If I then raise the engine rpm to about 2000 it comes back up to 13-14 volts very slowly. 

I am afraid that with the headlights and heater on, and the music playing, I may run out of juice.  Anything to worry about?  Is this normal?  BTW, I did put solenoids in my headlight system and may be drawing more amps to them now. Thoughts?  

Thanks, John