Ok, my voltmeter gauge stayes in red. WAY DOWN. JUST over the first red bar (AT IDLE). When moving, the gauge does NOT go above the last Red Bar. ITS ALWAYS IN RED! (like this red face)

Things you should know... My batt has died 5-7 times before to do my stupidity. ABS light came on today (is this cause of voltage?) Also installed new stereo system running 3 amps one at 4V preout.

Is my alternator gone and not charging? is it ok to drive the car? seems like the more i drive it.. the more the voltmeter drops!?!?!?


thanks in advance gusy

 

I'd guess alternator.

 

yea.. thats what i'm guessing.. damn it.. i just got my license back after 2 month of suspension and made the car all nice and all, put a nice stereo so i would turn it up and slow it down.... now i have to spend more money!

could it be that the batt is dead and not taking charge???

ALSO you should know that i have underdrive pullies.

 

!alternator

I had the same problem. Various dummy lights came on also like check gauges, SES, ABS

 

not a good idea to drive it then?
probebly die on me?

 

Probably not. I drove mine to home from school, then to work and made it 1/4 the way home from work when it completely died on me and ended up getting it towed

I'd say it ran a good 20 miles before completely dying

 

yea.. i'm glad mine got home... it was about to die i bet

this SUCKS ***

 

Take it to AutoZone and have them test and then you'll know for sure if it's crapped out Good luck

 

Don't drive it. You will get stranded. You are running on pure battery reserve. Have the alt tested as suggested. You might even want to be charging your battery if you have a charger. That will keep the new alt from having to work so hard to get your battery charged back up.

 

i wonder what blue it... the fact that i gotta new system or the fact that my battery had died 5-7 times and the alt. had to work hard to charge it...
i bet you its cause of the stupid batt.

 

Would a low voltage throw off anything in the computer? Such as oxygen sensors reading, etc?

 

The computer uses a lot of low voltage potentials, but anytime voltage is low, it could have a possible effect on stuff. It will throw several system lights on on the dash, like ABS, Air Bag... It is gonna play havoc with fuel pressure because the pump needs good voltage to keep the pressure up.

 

i once got a new rebuilt altinator from autozone cause my old one was dipping to about 10v at idle every once and awhile, maybe once every two weeks or so.

got the rebuilt autozone one and put it on, suddenly every 2 - 3 times i'm sitting idle my voltage drops to about 9v - 10v. i take it back a week later and tell them whats going on. they sware on their mother's life that my car is to blame and their alt is just fine, they even test it and sure enough it tests good. i demand a new rebuilt alt. and got it. this one stays between 13.5 - 13.8 all the time, and NEVER dips below 13v even with all the lights on, stereo blasting, and a/c on...

so just a warning, their altinator tests are not always good...

 

thanks for all the input guys

I figured it might even be the batt. since the car would run and when moving the bar would move up... but at idel would rop to 2-3 volts... i thought maybe the batt sucks and can't keep charge... i bought a new batt.. yea.. that wasn't the problem

gonna get an Alt. tomorow

thanks again guys

 

You said yourself that the problem was intermittent. Just so happened that when they tested it, the problem was not occurring. Based on this, it is not logical to conclude their tests are not always good (maybe for other reasons, perhaps ). You did the right thing by demanding another alt and getting it, though. It is just kind of the luck of the draw when you get a rebuilt alt and sometimes even totally new ones. The thing is to make sure it is working properly after you put it on and don't assume it is good just because it is new.