Ever since I got the car it has been acting like this but it is gradually getting worse. There seems to be something wrong with the electrical system. I just got a new alternator so that's not the problem. When I have the lights on, and say, I come to a stop (RPM below 1000 or so), the voltmeter goes waaaaay down to about 9 or 10. It's bad enough so that the turn signals won't flash, I have to step on the gas and get the RPM's up so the voltmeter rises back up to 12-13. AND...when I turn on the rear defrost, the voltmeter loses like 3 volts instantly! It's not keeping the charge up at all with these electrical components turned on. Again, it's a brand new alternator and the same things happened before with the old alternator. Also, whenever I turn these electrical components on, I can hear the alternator belt squealing. Anyone know what's goin' on??

 

what kinda alternator did you get?

 

Could be as simple as a loose alternator belt.

 

i thought it could be the belt too but it's tight.

 

If your alternator belt is squealing, and it is tight, the belt may be bad.

Or maybe alternator connections.

There's 3 of them on your alt.

1) The big red wire that bolts to the back of the alt. This is the wire that the alt output goes through to the rest of the car. Check here for a good connection.

2&3) The plugin connector. One of these supplies the power to energize the alternators field coils. Without this connection, the alt doesn't get power to energize it's field coils, and without field coils, it can't generate power.
The other one is the sense lead. This is the lead the alt's internal voltage regulator uses to sense the system voltage. Without a good connection here, the alt may not realize it needs to generate more volts.

Could have gotten a bum alternator, too.

Don't forget, of course, to always check and clean battery terminals...

 

OK, if there is a significant drop on the voltmeter when i turn the lights, rear defrost, heater/ac, or even the turn signals on, is that still an alternator/belt problem or can it be more complicated than that??

 

a certain amount of drop is normal, although it shouldn't drop below 12

 

I'm guessing then that the belt is just bad??? It's tight...so it must be a bad belt if it is squeaking as the voltmeter drops.