Volts?

[rickmazurek]

Ok all, this has been going on for a while, it doesnt hurt anything but it is damn annoying. My volts will bounce from 14-15 all day long, making my lights bright then dim, bright then dim, very annoying. I had to replace my alternator today (unrelated problem), but it didnt fix anything, so what else could cause this to happen?

 

[yellow1995Cobra]

does it happen during normal driving? Or when you come to a stop and idle?

 

[rickmazurek]

All the time, it usually does it worse (anywhere from 14 to 16 volts) when I first start the car in the morning. While I am driving its USUALLY not to bad (14-14.5ish) but sometimes it can be. Also, some times once the car warms up it wont do this at all, for the entire time im driving, be it 10 minutes or 2 hours.

 

[yellow1995Cobra]

I think part of it might be the cam. I would get some fluctuation when idleing.. That along with the underdrive pulleys would bring the volts pretty low (12) then back up.. It would bounce around a bit. Especially on cold starts, as it would surge from 1200-600 for a min before smoothing out.

I never had aproblem while actually driving though, maybe theres more to it then

 

[rickmazurek]

Well, I run a higher idle (~1000) to keep the motor running smooth and also I dont usually have any charging problems or bouncing volts with my idle that high. But about 4-6 months ago it started doing this crap, last time it was a bad voltage regulator, this time its not. I dont have any accessories like some huge stereo or anything, I actually have all stock accessories, so im also at a loss here.

 

[madams74]

It is totally normal for the car to fluctuate at these voltages. BUT this should not cause the problems you have mentioned. The typical alternator sends out 14.6 volts through the regulator. 14.6 VDC is the universal figure for most automobile electrical systems while the engine is running. I would check to make sure that you have a good connection at the battery post. Those stock battery connections are now going on 8 years. They were flimsy from the factory and they usually get ate up. I would replace the battery ends and then check my readings at the battery with the car running, blower on, headlights on. The grounds up in front of the battery are a problem on our cars. I went through 2 alternators, and a new battery and still had the problems with the damn thing not charging and loosing battery power. The whole time it was a corroded connection. The 2 black wires up next to the battery are so important. I would remove them, scratch the paint at the screw area, even replace the ends like I did. NO more problems. You really sound like you have a connection problem though.

 

[rickmazurek]

Thanks for the input madams, ive really had no problems with it, just the flickering of the lights which gets very annoying at times. The battery is new, the alternator is only a few hours old, so im good there. As to the wires by the battery, im not sure if I made sure those had a good connection, when I dropped in my new motor I also sanded and repainted my engine bay so I dont remember if I cleaned off those areas, I guess thats something for me to check in the morning.

Edit: I also replaced those cheesy battery terminals a long time ago with some anti-corrosive ones from auto zone, but I didnt have this problem back then, kinda odd that it would appear this far down the road, but I will check those out also.

 

[rickmazurek]

Ok all, a quick update incase anyone else has this problem. I sanded down under the two ground wires that were coming off of the battery, made a nice clean ground for those. Then I noticed that one of my alternator casing bolts was hitting my valve cover, I dont know if this couldve affected anything or not, but I ground down a small depression in the valve cover and ground down the bolt a little bit and put it all back together. I ran the car for a few minutes while it was cold from its first start of the day, when the volts would bounce the worst and now they didnt move at all, a solid 14.5, so thanks to all who posted.