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| louie0408 |
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Age: 36 Posts: 122 Joined: 21st May 2010 Ride: 1997 EL Ford Fairmont Ghia Location: Brisbane |
so i was sitting at the lights today and noticed the volt meter was pretty low. low voltage.
Its a pretty hot day so i had the aircon on and the thermofans were on as well. I turned on headlights, highbeams and rear demister and it dropped below 12v. This is'nt what its supposed to be doing right? Once moving it jumps back up but still below 14v unless i give it a good rev to get the rpm up. |
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| cozza88 |
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sounds like the voltage regulator in the alt is on it's way out mine did the same i didnt take any notice till it wouldnt start one morning when i was late for work.
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| phongus |
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louie0408 wrote: so i was sitting at the lights today and noticed the volt meter was pretty low. low voltage. Its a pretty hot day so i had the aircon on and the thermofans were on as well. I turned on headlights, highbeams and rear demister and it dropped below 12v. This is'nt what its supposed to be doing right? Once moving it jumps back up but still below 14v unless i give it a good rev to get the rpm up. uhh if you're running pretty much every accessory on a hot day, most likely there will be a voltage drop, however you won't know for sure unless you stick a proper voltmeter at the battery terminals. The cluster shows a lower voltage than an actual voltmeter...well mine does anyway. Comparing my cluster to my voltmeter, there is a difference between 0.5-1V difference. When cold the Voltage reading in the cluster will be higher than when the car has warmed up to operating temperature, and even lower when temperature rises above half way on the temp gauge. Use a voltmeter to see if there is some charge at the battery terminal.
_________________ phongus = Post whore 2006 |
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| louie0408 |
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Age: 36 Posts: 122 Joined: 21st May 2010 Ride: 1997 EL Ford Fairmont Ghia Location: Brisbane |
i dont have any of that gear unfortunately. The pic was taken with only the aircon on and the thermo fans running. it went even lower when i turned on other accessories. Would i get away with replacing the alternator with a known working one from a wreckers? or should i buy new?
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| BEAR80 |
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Age: 44 Posts: 683 Joined: 4th Mar 2010 Ride: BF Fairmont Ghia & TS Magna Location: central coast |
go to an auto electricl person and ask them to vheck your battery with a battery load tester, a load tester can check the condition of a battery, alternator and starter motor.
this is the battery load tester one i have and use to test my gear..... |
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| louie0408 |
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Age: 36 Posts: 122 Joined: 21st May 2010 Ride: 1997 EL Ford Fairmont Ghia Location: Brisbane |
BEAR80 wrote: go to an auto electricl person and ask them to vheck your battery with a battery load tester, a load tester can check the condition of a battery, alternator and starter motor. this is the battery load tester one i have and use to test my gear..... The battery is only 2 months old so hopefully it hasn't been damaged |
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| BEAR80 |
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Age: 44 Posts: 683 Joined: 4th Mar 2010 Ride: BF Fairmont Ghia & TS Magna Location: central coast |
what was the manufacture date?
as a lot of batteries sit on the shelf a long time before they are used, is the car daily driven? when i buy a new battery i always discharge, then throw it on my pulse charge, put a bottle of battery conditioner in and install a desulfator..... usually i get a solid 24 months out of my batteries in my second car and a solid 36 months out of my daily driven car..... research battery sulfation as it is one of the biggest killers on lead acid batteries hope this helps |
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| bry40l |
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BEAR80 wrote: what was the manufacture date? as a lot of batteries sit on the shelf a long time before they are used, is the car daily driven? when i buy a new battery i always discharge, then throw it on my pulse charge, put a bottle of battery conditioner in and install a desulfator..... usually i get a solid 24 months out of my batteries in my second car and a solid 36 months out of my daily driven car..... research battery sulfation as it is one of the biggest killers on lead acid batteries hope this helps yep battery sulfation is the big one, mostly when the battery sits around in the colder months it gets this, if you put a battery conditioner in it usually keeps them from buggering up as quick, when you rev the car, does the gauge go up? i had a problem with one of my alternators not long ago would only charge above 12v when you rev the car the more it reved the more it would charge, i just replaced it with a second hand unit from another car and it works as it should now
_________________ BF XR6 |
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| BEAR80 |
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Age: 44 Posts: 683 Joined: 4th Mar 2010 Ride: BF Fairmont Ghia & TS Magna Location: central coast |
don't forget bry that a alternator will only produce a small amount of charge from an engine at idle.....
also sulfation can occur all year round if a battery isn't used regularly or if a battery is left deep discharged for too long sulfation will also occur..... |
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| chicho11 |
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I had a battery that had a sadden death, but that happened after over 7 years on an LTD 1977.
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| louie0408 |
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Age: 36 Posts: 122 Joined: 21st May 2010 Ride: 1997 EL Ford Fairmont Ghia Location: Brisbane |
bry40l wrote: BEAR80 wrote: what was the manufacture date? as a lot of batteries sit on the shelf a long time before they are used, is the car daily driven? when i buy a new battery i always discharge, then throw it on my pulse charge, put a bottle of battery conditioner in and install a desulfator..... usually i get a solid 24 months out of my batteries in my second car and a solid 36 months out of my daily driven car..... research battery sulfation as it is one of the biggest killers on lead acid batteries hope this helps yep battery sulfation is the big one, mostly when the battery sits around in the colder months it gets this, if you put a battery conditioner in it usually keeps them from buggering up as quick, when you rev the car, does the gauge go up? i had a problem with one of my alternators not long ago would only charge above 12v when you rev the car the more it reved the more it would charge, i just replaced it with a second hand unit from another car and it works as it should now yeh if i rev the car it charges better hence my suspisions on the alternator. The car is driven every day, not sure about the life of the battery prior to my pruchase, i assume it just sat on a shelf somewhere. I have noticed it doesnt start the car as well as it did when i first got it tho, might that be because it sint being charged properly? |
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| BEAR80 |
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Age: 44 Posts: 683 Joined: 4th Mar 2010 Ride: BF Fairmont Ghia & TS Magna Location: central coast |
try putting the battery on charger, as you might not be driving it enough to keep it charged up properly.....
what brand is the battery? |
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