[s-cars] Alternator Musings

[Djdawson2 at aol.com]

In a message dated 7/13/2005 8:51:25 PM Mountain Standard Time,  
powellb at gmail.com writes:

Thanks  for the info. I just did a test. I fired it up, turned on all 4
seat  heaters, rear defrost, AC, high beams, and radio. I tested the
alternator  and it was at 13.44V with the car idling and everything on.
I tested at the  battery and it was 13.1V during the same period. I let
things go, turned  things on and off, and retested. The largest
difference I got was the  battery being 0.45V below the alternator. Is
this enough of a drop to cause  it? It seems like less than 0.5V would
be in the "acceptable" range, but I  really don't know.




Yeah... you've got resistance in there that will cause you problems.   You 
can verify this by measuring the resistance (ohm meter... you prolly know),  but 
the easiest thing to do is just clean things up and measure voltage  again.  
I think you'll find that this will solve your problems.
Good luck!
Dave