Alternator inquiry
 

Hi All,

Lately I've been wondering if my alternator could be on its way out. My battery is decently new, not quite 6 months old, and it's a Duralast Gold.

My volt gauge almost never reaches 14V (verified with a voltmeter), and the battery usually sits around 13.7V while the engine is running (all accessories off).

What prompted me to start this thread is yesterday, after an hour workout at the gym, I hopped in my car, started the engine, and turned the AC on. Usually I don't check the volt gauge, but what caught my eye was the needle pointing to only 12V at idle after driving for a couple minutes :confused: As I started driving and engine speed increased it did eventually level out to its normal ~13.7V reading, but something tells me it shouldn't take that long, and it should also charge the battery to a higher voltage.

To those with experience in this department, does this even sound like an issue? I had a guy at O'Reilly's test my alternator and his only conclusion was that it "charges the battery", but that's not very conclusive. Perhaps the brushes are going bad, or the regulator needs to be replaced or something like that? I appreciate any help you guys can offer :)

I don't know much of anything about alternators, but on my old radio it would show the voltage and it always sat between 13.7 and 13.9 ish.

What about when the AC is on? My voltage gauge shows barely over 12V with AC on and sitting at idle.