67GTX440
Well-Known Member
My battery kept dying. I had replaced the battery as it was under warranty. Sears said it tested fine, but the case was slightly swollen, so they gave me a new one. I had my old alternator tested at Advance Auto Parts and they said it was bad. I bought a round back 60 AMP replacement as car is basically stock with no big power draws added. I installed it and battery died again. I took the new alternator back to Advance and it tested as bad. They got me another one and I had them test it on their machine before I left the store and it tested as good. The machine only seems to spit out bad or good, not info on volts produced. I put it on the car an I get the following:
11.55 volts off the back of the alternator whether idling or 2000 RPM
12.15 volts at the battery
12.00 volts on a voltmeter whether idling or 2000 RPM
Slightly on the discharging side on the factory ammeter - needle drops sharply with flasher blink with flasher on
Is this just the state of auto parts store quality or does it seem I may have another problem? It seems that testing right off the back of the alternator should give a good read. Would a bad voltage regulator cause it to show less? Would a bad ammeter cause this? The gauge needle does move downward with the flasher when the flashers are turned on.
I am thinking I should go with the Tuff Stuff 100 amp squareback as the reviews my Mopar owners indicate that not charging at idle is a typical Mopar issue and this seems to solve it. If I do that I probably need to change my wiring to 10 or 8 gauge from 12 and bypass my ammeter. I hate to lose the original gauge functioning on the dash, but might need to go that route. Do most of you that go that route just have a dead gauge in the dash and a separate voltmeter, or have a ammeter to voltmeter conversion done by Redline etc. on the existing ammeter? I bought a voltmeter to try to fit into the original ammeter gauge, but can't bring myself to drill out the old gauge from the face and take tin snips to the old gauge as it looks like I would need to do.
11.55 volts off the back of the alternator whether idling or 2000 RPM
12.15 volts at the battery
12.00 volts on a voltmeter whether idling or 2000 RPM
Slightly on the discharging side on the factory ammeter - needle drops sharply with flasher blink with flasher on
Is this just the state of auto parts store quality or does it seem I may have another problem? It seems that testing right off the back of the alternator should give a good read. Would a bad voltage regulator cause it to show less? Would a bad ammeter cause this? The gauge needle does move downward with the flasher when the flashers are turned on.
I am thinking I should go with the Tuff Stuff 100 amp squareback as the reviews my Mopar owners indicate that not charging at idle is a typical Mopar issue and this seems to solve it. If I do that I probably need to change my wiring to 10 or 8 gauge from 12 and bypass my ammeter. I hate to lose the original gauge functioning on the dash, but might need to go that route. Do most of you that go that route just have a dead gauge in the dash and a separate voltmeter, or have a ammeter to voltmeter conversion done by Redline etc. on the existing ammeter? I bought a voltmeter to try to fit into the original ammeter gauge, but can't bring myself to drill out the old gauge from the face and take tin snips to the old gauge as it looks like I would need to do.
