Alternator inquiry
#1
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 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
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 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
Last edited by MetalMan; 08-10-2012 at 11:44 AM.
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post