OK I just added an electric water pump on my car and now my volts are extremely low. Sometimes it is even hard to start the car. It still has the stock alternator, a Quaker State Battey and under drive pulleys. Any suggestions to fix this problem???

 

Take it to Sears and have it checked.

 

There are a few things you can check with a simple multimeter yourself.
First check the voltage across the battery with everything off. While someone cranks it over, read it and be sure it does not go below 11 volts. Once it's running, the voltage across the battery should be about 14 volts. The last thing to check is the alternator diodes. Change the meter to AC and measure from the negative battery terminal to the output post of the alternator. The reading should be 0.03 VAC or lower. This is the only time you use the AC setting.

Don't jump to conclusions based on any of the readings. A bad battery for example will throw some of the readings off but many will swear the alternator is bad. Bad wiring can effect all but the AC readings. Its worth it to check all the connections. It's ok to take your vehicle somewhere but I think doing it yourself will help to understand the system a little better and help prepare anyone for the inevitable further down the road.

 

First of all, I would never take anything I own to Sears, I have had nothing but bad experience with all the dumbasses here in my town. I am very mechanically inclined and I can do all that stuff myself. The battery is fine. I was just wondering if the Underdrive pulleys have anything to do with it since I added the water pump. Could the alternator not be keeping up with all the drain that the water pump is putting on it??

 

Yes
Sorry about the idiots at your local Sears store.
I have suggested tests in other recent posts that might be helpful.

 

Tested it, battery tested alittle low but ok. Alternator was not putting out what it should. Because of the water pump, should I get a higher output alternator?? Would a better battery like an Optima help also??

 

What has the water pump got to do with it?Smaller pullies will cause a low output at lower RPM'S.
Bat low=low alt output.
Larger alt won't help if it's pulley size that's causing your problem.Which I think it is. Go back to factory size and check it and make sure the bat is fully up when checking.Ya should get 14-14.5V across the bat at about 2000RPM's with air and lights on if not ya got a bad alt.If ya get 14+ volts with no load (air & lights)and it won't support a load either your bat isn't up or the alt is bad.

Did ya load test the bat???

 

ELECTRIC WATER PUMP!!! Its not a stock one.

I checked the load on the battery and it was fine. I went out and did a test again and here are the results. Battery tested fine but was at 12.7 V. When I started the car with went all the way down to 10.5. While the car was runnign it was around 12.8-13.2. Now if I put the stock pulley back on the alternator could I still run the underdrive one on the crank???

 

Yes, but IMO the smaller pulleys are your whole problem.Ya are running all the time in the lower RPM's and it don't turn the alt fast enough to replace the amps ya are using and over a period of time the bat gets low and the alt charges low and there ya go DEAD BAT.
The last set of pulleys I did had to come off for the same reason.
WP shouldn't matter with stock pulleys.

 

If your battery is no more than 13 with the engine running, either the battery, the wiring or the alternator is bad. Sorry. The water pump will not drain the source that much.

 

Well see, I was driving it around the other day and even at night with the lights and A/C on it showed 13 volts (straight up and down) on the voltmeter (stock). I wonder IF it wasnt just because the car had been sitting for around 2 months before I finally got off my lazy *** and did the water pump.