ok, tonight, it was raining.

i the only electrical accessories that were on, were:

Headlights
Wipers
Heater (max)
cooling fan

and my Voltmeter dropped to near 8v, the heater slowed way down, int. lighting dimmed. if i bump the throttle to 800-900 rpm, the volts jump back up to 12.

holding RPM above 1000, Volts read 13-14, like it should.

also, turning on my rear defroster in addition to the other accessories caused my voltmeter to drop down to 8-9v initially. so i turned it off. the Volts climb to normal above 1000rpm. but, @ idle, it still went down to 8-9v even w/ the defroster off.

is my alternator going out or what? where can i get a 140 amp alternator???

chris

 

yea, Id say definately alternator. My car did the exact same thing. I put it off for a couple of months, being that I really wasnt out much at night, but one day it just died altogether. I actually never realived that it was bad for a long time, cuz I noticed that with the new alternator, the voltimiter is at a constant like 14v, which it was at most 12v b4. It is a real easy replacement though, took me all of like 10 minutes. So yea, in my opinion its probably the alternator.

 

Yep, time to replace it.

 

B4 you run out and get an alternator.... check your wiring. Engine ground, chassis ground, etc .... anything that has to do with the charging system. Have you cleaned your battery terminals lately? Pull connections apart and clean them with elec grease or baking soda & water to remove any corrosion. Remove all excess grease from connections, if there is any. Maintenance is a hell of a lot cheaper than buying new parts.

 

my car is clean, its not neglected. no crud on the battery posts, no corrosion on the connections. in fact, all my connections still have wire looms and electrical tape on them,not to mention the rubber boots on the alternator and + battery post.

so, where might i find a high output alternator?

chris

 

I have heard of a couple people that have put the alt from a FD with minor mods, but I can't seem to find the links. You might try a search.

A high end car stereo shop may be able to order one as well, but be prepared to pay out the butt for one.