Charging system...

[iraq_vet_x2]

My charging system is giving me hell. I want to say it's the alternator, because it starts to die whenever i turn on my headllights, or hit the brakes. It gets worse the further i drive it. I can also watch the needle on my voltmeter move lower every time an exterior light like that comes on. Turning the blinker on and watching the needle bounce is almost commical.
Any ideas?

On a side note....there should be some kind of rule that people need to put what the fix was at the end of their threads. it's frustrating looking through the archives, seeing your problem, and then no solution....

 

[xt master]

Could be the battery also.Easier to check the battery if you have another vehicle you can borrow it from.Also check your ground from the batter to the frame.

 

[SteelHeadz]

X2, there's a possibility that the alternator is not switching to a full field charge. Check the connections from the alternator to their respective harness. The battery charge must be at a min. of 11.5 volts so that the alternator doesn't get overwhelmed with the power demand from the powertrain and exterior lamps.. Have the battery load tested from a local parts store that does it for free.

 

[iraq_vet_x2]

Alright, I'll go with these suggestions...I had a local mechanic friend of mine say that since my blinker makes my voltmeter bounce with every flash, it's probably a short somewhere or a bad ground. Any truth to that?

Mikey, where do I put the leads from my multimeter to check how much my alternator is putting out?

 

[SteelHeadz]

Negative probe to ground and positive to the red lead from the alternator..

 

[iraq_vet_x2]

Kinda figured that, and did it before I got your reply.

When the engine's running I'm at 14.50 from post to post and 14.59 from the negative post to the alternator. Battery's at 12.89 with the engine off.

Everything seems to be good between those two. I'm starting to have doubts about my bare grounding line from the block to the firewall. I touched it after the engine had been running for about three minutes and it nearly burned me. I'm pretty sure that's not normal. I think it may be too worn out. I'll replace it and tell you how it goes.

 

[SteelHeadz]

Sorry you got hurt. Yeah, that ground could be the culprit.. Also, make sure the ground from the battery to the block is sufficient as well..

 

[iraq_vet_x2]

Alright, I found it. The bolt had gotten loose on the starter relay. All better now.