looks like everyone else told you what I did in the other thread

 

Well I drove the car today a lot. And I noticed that the voltage meter in the car goes from a little above 12 to almost 14. Is that normal? Still haven't been able to pull fuses yet.

 

Not really but it depends when it was reading 12 volts versus 14 volts and so on. If it reads close to 12 volts while idling w/the brake depressed and other items which consumes voltage running then that is not particularly odd. It also depends on what alternator pulley you have as it might not be stock and therefor it's either an overdrive pulley or an underdrive pulley. If you have a stock pulley and the car is in motion and you have to keep the rpm's rather high to make the gauge read 14 volts then it could be a function of a failing alternator. Also, the stock gauge might not be accurately reading the voltage.

 

I don't think its 14 I think its a little less. I think its the stock alt. Its almost always at 12 in park with the brakes on and other stuff. When driving a little under 3k its like 13.5v I'd say

 

If you idle the car w/o the brake depressed and other circuits running then the voltage should not be 12 volts. If it's running at 12 volts and you rev the car over 4-5k and the voltage increases to 14 volts then you have a weak alternator or dirty grounds related to the charging system or both.

 

W/o brakes on its at about 13. But like u said the gauge could be off

 

The alternator needs to be putting out close to 13.5 volts to charge the battery I believe.

 

Is there a way to test the alternator to see if its causing the problem?

 

Do the amperage draw test first.

 

This video should help you out, this guy explains things pretty well.

 

OK I will

 

Start the car, disconnect the positive cable, if she dies, your alt is bad.

 

That is not a good thing to do with a fuel injected vehicle.

AC leakage from a weak rectifier in the alternator can damage the ECU. The battery does a good job of filtering the alternators output.

 

guess that's just my stubborn driveway mechanic ways. never had an issue doing it, but ive heard stories of bad things happening. but I already told him to do a draw test as did 5 other people and hes still asking questions...

 

OK the numbers on the meter won't settle when I try to test it. They go from low number to high numbers and just back and forth. Some one explain in detail how to test it please

 

Crap I have an ac multimeter I need a DC. I'm just going to remove all of the unnecessary fuses until I figure out what it is. Its not a daily driver anyways.

 

OK the battery is staying charged but the clock and radio will only work if the brake is pressed. Why? It's weird lmao

 

So, suddenly the battery is not draining? Weird. Your other problem could be caused by poor grounding. Look at the link provided and towards the top of this large document is an illustration of the grounding points. JC-02 appears to be the grounding site you want to focus on. As the diagram indicates, JC-02 should be located in front of the idiot lights and underneath the plastic panel that surrounds the idiot lights. JC-02 should have from 5 to 6 Black wires and all of them are grounds.

http://foxed.ca/rx7manual/manuals/S5wiring.pdf

 

No the battery isn't draining. And the idiot lights don't work right either. I'll check the grounds later today

 

Besides the clock working intermittently, what specifically is problematic w/the idiot lights?

 

Seat belt light randomly comes on even when I'm wearing it. the door ajar light randomly comes on and the parking break light randomly comes on. Could that all be bad grounds?

 

^It's one of the possibilities.

 

What else could it be? Sorry I'm retarded when it comes to electricity lol

 

The idiot light bulbs receive voltage w/key to on. The missing ingredient is a ground signal that completes the circuit to turn on the individual lights. There could be faulty soldering which would require resoldering. It could be a problem internally. And if the lights come on together randomly then it is a sign that the alternator is failing.

 

OK. I'll check the grounds and see if anything needs resoldering