What would cause the volt gauge to go into the upper red zone ? After the car has been running for about 5 minutes of driving, the voltage increases as I accelerate from about 13 volts to 17 or 18 volts (which turns on the SES light). I'm not sure if its a faulty gauge reading, it almost seems to follow my temperature gauge needle. When temp needle increases, volt needle increases. Sometimes the voltage does drop back down to regular but then goes up again. Any ideas?

 

same thing hapened when my voltage regulator went bad.

had to replace the alternator

 

Ok thanks man. The cars my daily driver, so will it harm anything if I continue to drive it as is for a little while ? Thanks for the reply

 

over voltage and spikes can harm the cars electronics, i would avoid driving it until you can fix it so you don't cause any more damage.

 

this. i was scared as hell when it happened...i noticed it when i was drivin an hour back home at night..so i had to tuse the lights and everything. one of the most nerve wracking drives ive had