i just noticed yesterday that the voltage gauge on my car is reading at about 16-17. this scared me. what could it be? is it safe to drive? its almost into the orange on the gauge.

 

could be a bad voltage regulator in the alternator or a problem with the
wiring to the alternator.When the brushes wore down in my alternator,
the voltage started spiking up to 16-17v but did not stay steady up that
high.Besides burning out light bulbs,voltage that high will boil the battery
dry and ruin it-fix ASAP

 

That orange is there for a reason. It means "don't drive unless your life depends on it!"

Odds are highly in favor of it being the alternator. Lucky for you it's a really easy fix, and well under $100. You can even pick up a shiny new chrome single wire from Summit for < $100.

 

ok so im guessing its the alternater itself then. i checked all the wiring and it was all good...

 

Alternator.

 

fack, i was gonna pull the engine next week, think it will be alright til then? i have a alternator on the engine thats going into it. im guessing and alternator is and alternator and it doesnt matter about engine size? going from a 2.8 to a 355

 

Put the other alternator on. It's like 4 fasteners to put an alternator on, and you could cook your electronics and your battery if you don't do it. There's a regulator for a reason. Remember, orange zone on the gauge means "don't drive unless your life depends on it."

 

Disconnect the battery before you start swapping the alternator.