DHays

Hey Guys,
I did a search on this and I seen so many diffrent things stated, that had diffrent issues. I just wanted to ask for more info!

(1) car is at idle volts on the dash read right around14-13
(2) car is in gear with brake pedal mashed down(read's 13 or a little under)
(3) car seems to be missing and chugging a little lately
(4) tonight my Radio started makeing a weird cut out sound when it was turned up a little too loud
(5) my dash lights as well as every other light one the car flickers at all times. The brake light even with no other things on in the car will flicker if the car's running and the parking brake is set.
(6) The car hasnt went dead again at a stop light like it did like 3 days after I got it, but sometimes it dip's really low down into the rpm's when you have a few things going and cut the wheels(goes down to like 400rpm's and feels as if she's going to die.

Is it time to have the alt tested or should I start by looking for the loose ground wire's I have heard a little about in the search's?

Any and all help is cool and great as always!

Thanks
Donnie H:hail:

V6sucker

at the very least have the Alt tested, but be prepared to buy one.

the miss, check out the normal things. Plugs, wires, TIMING is the biggest thing. Clean the EGR (it can never be too clean), check vacuum leaks... the normal stuff for a 60* V6.

Project: 85 2.8 bird

does sound like a lose ground somewhere.

Gumby

take it to autozone

they will pull code and test everything for free.

TechSmurf

I'm on the bad ground bandwagon...

DHays

Ok today after work car was running ruff and radio was cutting out, like its been doing upon getting home I noticed the gauge was reading at 14 Volts still with all the issues. If I turn my headlights,driving lights,stereo,ac all on the volts drop down to 13 or just below and all is great(no Miss-No flickering headlights,no radio cutting out) I didnt make it to Zone today am going after work tomm(leaving at noonish to go have it checked out. I am think its overcharging maybe as it runs bad and acts crazy when it reads above 13 volts once its down to 13 or just below everything works great!

I am on the right track on the overcharging thoughts?

Donnie H:hail:

V6sucker

It can be pushing the Volt's but it does not mean it's doing anything on the Amp's.

And it could also be a faulty field because of it.
That field can do many a strange things...

Though, if it is overcharging, it "could" cook off grounds.

TomP

How old is the battery?

How clean are the battery cables? Have they corroded "inside" the rubber-covered terminals at the battery?

The biggest ground I think you should worry about is the strap that goes from the rear passenger head to the firewall. Give that one a check. Ground straps are $5 from a local parts store. I put a huge one on my car because I could.

The radio is a good sign that you're not getting the juice you need. You should really always be at 13.8 volts unless you have a hell of a stereo- and it'd really only dip when the bass hit.

Look for one of those inductive amperage meters. It's a silver meter with no probes; just an "E"-shaped metal clip on the back. It can measure alternator amperage or starter-cranking amperage. You hold the gauge against the alternator output wire (one leg of the "E" is smaller, for alternator wires), and the meter reads an approximate amperage. And if you hold the meter near a subwoofer magnet, it'll also swing. (Inductive = reading magnetic pulses in the wire...) See this website for a picture of one: http://www.kd-tools.com/2423.htm

TomP

Hey here's something cool; I haven't seen this before! http://www.lislecorp.com/tool_detail.cfm?detail=316 I wonder how well it works...

TechSmurf

If adding load to the alternator is solving the problem, your voltage regulator is probably going out.. unless you want to learn how to tear apart an alternator, it's replacement time.

Other possibility is the diode trio starting to go south, and you could be getting abnormal amounts of AC out of the alternator.. this is almost definite replacement time.

If you've got a multimeter, leave it hooked up to the car and see if it picks up any AC voltage while you're experiencing these interesting issues