well, today when i started my car, everything was fine, after it warmed up, i went driving it and notice i had to give it a lil more gas for it to move, also after i drove it outta my drive way, i notice my voltage guage went all the way to 16amps! WTF? so whats wrong? Before I drove it, i installed my 17's just to see how it drives, but i doubt it can be it. any help?

 

here are pics incase noone knows what im talkin about



EDIT: I meant 16volts
And this is wit a 80amp Duralast alternator from autozone.

 

If it makes you feel better, my alternator does the same thing.. and its the voltage regulator thats bad... $55 at napa for a replacement voltage regulator. Feel free to get it your alt checked out at a Les Scwabs or whatever.. Most places will have an alt tester and will do it for free.

 

This is why I recommend to STAY AWAY from those big-chain auto parts rebuild crap.
It's not even worth it with their LIFETIME GUARANTEES.
I prefer to get the remans from the Mazda dealer, as much as it hurts to pay their inflated prices.
Melting electronics or blowing up the battery is just some of the problems you could do with an out-of-control regulator that spike the voltage that high.


-Ted

 

did you check the voltage with a multimeter? You can't trust those gauges. Mine will read 12 volts and with a multimeter I've got 14.2

 

A voltmeter guage on your dash doesn't read amps, it reads voltage. Apples and oranges.

Check your voltage with a quality multimeter such as a Fluke product and you'll probably realize that your guage is not very accurate.