Ok i hav ea prob with my volt gauge. i dont know if it matters but my car used to be a canadian so all teh gauges are metric i think but i don t think that matters. anyway my volt gauge is almost always pointing at 16. i wouldnt bother with this if it werent for my friend that has a formula firebird and he says his is almost always at 13. i have an amp but its been turned off for a while cause my subs are getting upgraded..long story....anyway, i hav eno problems starting my car, the battery never dies, and im not running anything massivly out of the ordinary. is something wrong?

 

Definately something wrong, you are actually taking notice of the guages. I think they are more for show than actually giving an accurate reading. I have added aftermarket temperature and oil pressure guages, and they read totally different to the originals.

The best volt guages are probably the headlights, if they are still bright - you are OK.

 

If you do most of your own work invest in a multimeter. They can be had at reasonable prices, there are even knockoffs of the Fluke series floating around that work very well. 16 volts is high and not normal for these cars and you should investigate this. I have rebuilt a bucketful of alt's over the years and never had any run that high continuously. Eventually you will cook the electrolyte out of the battery. Andy points out the guages are not accurate. It's true and it isn't. The stock guages use a simple bearing composed of the plastic housing and a steel pin that attaches to the pointer. Over time the pin gets sticky and does not move freely giving false readings. I simply replaced my stock guages but aftermarket is one possibility. Stock guages run around $45 each. Mine now pretty much coincide with real readings. It sounds to me like the alt is running what is called full-fielded meaning it's wide open in charge. Thats bad. Most chain auto stores will check that for free or a nominal fee, but either way check it out.

 

Oh I was thinking about an under volt. Ignore my posting listen to Danno.