ok right now i just ran out to o reillys and got my alternator checked cuz i was running at only 13 volts and would loose a lot of power when the lights or heater was on the alternator tested as fine but the guys there said check all my wiring especailly the grounds i need to go to work so i havent had a chance yet but are there any places that usually go bad or wut else might cause this

 

you know...its pretty common of your lights to dim when at idle, espically at night, its cold, you got your heater goin, the rear defrost and the lights. its a lot of drain, and i think those things put out their max power at like 2000RPM, when you rev up your engine does it charge better and the voltage go back up to like 13.

PS: unless your on a 16V system, 13volts is pretty good, too much voltage will be bad.

 

Check all your grounds as well you might have a lose, bad, or broken connection.

 

yea usually alternators put out between 14-16 volts even on a twelve volt system but it drops to about 10 volts if i turn on one accessory(lights, heater wipers wutever) and doesnt go back up to 13 when i let it idle or even rev it up to bout 2000rpm

when im checking the wiring should i be checking the should i only check the wiring for she charging system or wut

 

bump

 

dunno really, if it bothers you that much then mayb take it to a shop and have them look at it. obivously we cant just tell you what to replace without seeing the car, mayb spend 20 or 30 buks to have a mechanic look at it for 30 mins. thats usually how i diagnose problems.

was it always low on juice at idle or was it just recently?

 

it had been good after i put the right sized belt on it it ran really good and i had no problem and and then i did something to the alternator it shorted when i was changing valve covers i blew one of the fusible links by the starter solenoid so i replaced both and ive been having problems since

 

The problem could of course be related to the workmanship involved in changing the fusible links. You'll have to obtain a multimeter to verify the voltages at different points in the wiring to see where (if any) voltage drop is occurring. The dash guage is not to be relied upon, it may have become faulty and it's needle sticky. In always warm climates 13.8V is the norm. In cold climates 14.4V is in order. There should not be more than 0.1V drop from alt to batt, and max 1V drop to accessories, counting the sum of both positive and ground wiring drops. If there's more than that then the connection/switch involved needs repair or the wiring needs an upgrade.