Charging issue
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Elder User
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 952
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From: Charlotte, NC
Charging issue
I am having an issue with my charging system. I replaced the alternator recently. I have a 98 explorer, and a sound system. When I sit at idle, sound almost completely off, my voltage drops to mid to high 11 volts (monitoring with my headunit), when before, it would hold in the 13's. I have checked my wiring, and my wiring is ok, now, my question is, could it have something to do with the battery, or is it just a bad alternator? It's a reman, so I don't know if I got a dud or something. When I'm at speed it holds high 13's low 14's, depending on what I have running. I have run the big 3 wiring upgrade, and replaced those wires yesterday to see if I happened to have a bad wire. Also, I have noticed in my speakers a bit of feedback, which leads me to believe a bad ground, but as I said, i've replaced the wiring, checked, double checked, and had a friend check, so I don't know. If ya'll have any other suggestions, that would be great.
Hotshot
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 11,931
Likes: 180
alternator should put out 13.5 volts even at idle. if your setting with gobs of speakers running, it might have a tendancy to drop slightly. it should never go to 11, the battery is a little over 12 volts. touch the throttle and speed up slightly, how much rpm to get to 13 volts? probably not quite normal, a little off in the regulator area. not a real problem unless you set and idle quite a bit.--- i still wonder about the 11 volts at idle, somthing dont sound right there, battery should hold it up to 12.4
Thread Starter
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Elder User
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 952
Likes: 0
From: Charlotte, NC
it only dips to 11 when i have the headlights on. I haven't been cranking my stereo lately because i'm kinda scared of it, lol, Usually I idle at 700-800 rpm, while in drive, rev it to 1k and it returns to normal. In neutral and park, the rpm's come up high enough that there is no issue. Could it be the battery going bad? I know that if i make a short stop, it turns over very slow sometimes, and i mean so slow that it doesn't seem like it'll make a 2nd or 3rd turn, but then i let it sit for a while and it starts with no problem. on a side note, before the swap, the speakers cranked wouldn't drop the voltage below low 13's at idle.
Hotshot
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 11,931
Likes: 180
i think you have a minor voltage regulator problem. if the battery is less than 4 years old i would guess its all right. if its 5 years old, its about time to get one before the winter anyway. the alternator is a little weak, but charges fine when you get over 1000 RPM.... its your choice, it works, buy like you say, you got to pay attention to what your doing. cant have constant short trips with lots of idle time.
