Right now, whenever I am at a stop light or just idled, my volt gauage only reads 12V and all the lights are dim. This also causes my idle to drop. I checked my battery and there is a lot of acid formation on the negative post of the battery that it almost covers it. I am not sure if this is normal. What could be wrong?

 

battery and alt...

The corrosion probably reduced you batteries buffering capabilities which smoked the alt.

 

hmmm, are you saying that my alternator is messed up too? how did that happen?

 

Mix some baking soda and water together and put some on your battery terminals, it'll get rid of the corrosion. Coke, the soda not the drug, does very well, too. It should help, if not, take your car to AutoZone or similar and have them check your charging system. it's a free service they provide, at least at AutoZone it is.

 

Ok, I guess I'll just get a new battery since I've had it for 3 yrs now anyway. But before I do that, I just wanted to know what's causing it.

 

if the lights are dimming at idle, there is insufficent amperage coming from the alt. You should have the alt checked.

So a new battery or cleaning the battery terminals alone will not fix the problem.

 

How do I check the alternator?

 

get a voltmeter. with the car off and all accesories off you should get 12 volts on the battery terminals. then turn it on, and check again with all accesories off and you should get 13 volts if the alternator is working. if you get less something is wrong with it

 

I had my battery checked today and the tester says it's a "GOOD BATTERY." Alternator is also good. Where else can I check?

 

I'd look Into swapping out your wires, leading from the Battery, due to them being very old and being exposed to the Immense heat our cars produce.

The factory uses 6AWG for the main wires and 10AWG for the alt. I would recommend going up at least one size on each if not two or three.

8 AWG for alt and 4 AWG for battery should be sufficient providing thr rest of your Charging System Is top notch. It cured my diming lights at Idle!

 

hmmm.... how hard is it to replace all these wires?

 

Not hard. I'd say tedious. Starter wire was the biggest pain. If you've got small hands, than removing the engine ground should be no problem. Care should be taken to remove/replace the wires. Don't pull or yank them. You don't want to hack them.

Exacto knife the wrap and follow the wires path. Match length the new wire and put It back on. Ofcourse after you wrap It the way It was to begin with. Simple enough? I think so.