past couple days ive notice my alt light never coming on when just turn the key to the on position to check my volts before i start the engine. and that while driving been below 12volts. the battery is just 3000 miles old so i figured has to be the alt. took it down to get tested and it was going bad got a new one and a new volt reg and took her out for a drive and im just sitting at 12 volts where before i would be driving and have 13 volts all the time is this just normal to have just 12 volts on the gauge??
I would check the battery cables/connections, especially the ground connection at the block and the voltage regulator.
I looked and the ground looks ok from the battery same as its been the last 3 months of driving and i just replaced the volt reg where is the ground from that
You gotta do more than "Look". It is impossible to see between the clamp and battery post. Remove the cables and clean them and put them back on then you will "Know".
The first thing that I would do is make sure that the regulator and Alternator are wired correctly. It is a pretty simple setup. There will be a wire that runs from the hot side of the Starter relay to the "Batt" terminal on the alternator. It is always hot. There should be an orange wire with a light blue stripe that runs from the "Field" terminal on the alternator to the "F" terminal on the regulator. There should be a white wire with a black stripe that runs from the "Sta" terminal on the alternator to the "S" terminal on the regulator. There should be a Black wire with a orange stripe that connects to tha "A" terminal on the regulator. It is tied into the wire that comes from the starter relay. It should also be hot all the time. There should be a light green wire with a red stripe that connects to the "I" terminal on the regulator. This is the wire that goes to the battery charge light. When there is voltage on it, it turns the light off. If all of the connections are correct, then make sure that you have 12v on the "Batt" terminal on the alternator and 12v on the "A" terminal on the regulator. Also make sure that you have a good body ground. If all of these conditions are made and it still doesn't charge then you either have a broken wire, bad regulator, or bad alternator. The wire colors may be different, but the wiring will be the same.
yea the light comes on when i just click the key into the on position and then goes away when the car is running which is how it should be now here is my problem now i went out to my car this morning to check the grounds and one grabbed the door and shocked me and then got in the car and had no volts and didnt have enough to turn the engine over either. then felt the alternator and it was hot so i pulled everything and checked my grounds and all were clean and connected. took the battery and the alt down to advance and they checked the battery and it was good just drained so they charged it and the alternator was good too so swaped out the volt reg and bolted everything back in and now i can start her but im still only getting 12 volts on the gauge im letting the car sit for a couple hours to see if it drains my battery again cus if thats the case i have a grounding issue right?? thanks for the help you guys hopefully you all can help me even more on this
It sounds like you have a bad draw somewhere. Take the negative cable off of the battery and wait about a minute. then take a voltage reading with a mutimeter at the battery. Then put the ground cable back on and take another reading. if it drops significantly, you have something pulling the voltage from your battery. Then you have to pull fuses until the draw goes away. Then you will be closer to finding your problem. Amplifiers have been known to cause problems like this (if you have one). But it sounds like something is shorted.
ok i can do that ill have to go pick up a meter then and try it and see what it looks like then. i did since i had pulled her out of the garage to get a jump this morning and drove back into the garage just now and turned on the lights and dropped volts and then turned them off and jumped back up to 12v. so i take it just have something draining the battery. i dont have an amp dont even have a radio. nothing as far as electric in my car just lights and gauges thats really it oh and heater
well i got a reading of 12.3 at the battery and then with the cables hooked up a 12.1 . i started the car and still the highest im getting is 12.3 so does this mean that i dont have a drain ?
I had an old '62 Galaxie did that and it was the brake light switch. I happen to touch the switch and it was hot...very hot...like grabbing a lite cigarette. Not saying that’s your problem just saying leave no stone unturned. Also had a '74 Plymouth Satellite killing the battery and it was a pinched trunk light wire. Why it didn't blow a fuse I never know.
should i run a wire from the ground on the alternator to the base of the voltage regulator and one from the regulator to the base of the starter solenoid on the frame to just re ground everything again??? i mean it wouldn't hurt it to add more grounds would 16 gauge be enough for this?
Remove the positive cable from the battery...put a test light between the battery positive post and positive cable. If the test light glows (even slightly) then you have a direct ground somewhere. Pull a fuse one at a time and check to see if the test light goes off. This will help find the circuit that is giving you the problem. If none of the fuses have an effect then pull plugs to the headlight and wiper switch. Here is a chart showing the fuse locations and circuits http://1bad6t.com/Maverick/repair/chassis_electrical_04.html I always run a dedicated ground wire between the alternator and regulator. I never ran one to the starter solenoid, it doesn't need to be grounded. 16 gauge might work but I use something heavier incase it did need to use this ground.
if i understood you right only pull the positive cable ( leaving the negative hooked to the battery ) and i just used my test light that has a cable and a needle to poke into sockets and has an internal light to bridge the gap. this gave me a bright light. but im confused by just bridging the gap with a light doesn't that just complete the circuit. and i should be getting 12v or more from that gap if i have a drain or not right? or am i just wrong for thinking this?
