i have a 86 ta with a 305....the problem i am having is at night the battery gauge goes to 8..with the lights on and stuff....and its got a new altanator and i put the old one back in cuz it didnt make a differance....the battery is good too...at night i have to hold my car at 2,000 rpms b4 i turn it off or it wont charge the battery and i get stuck lol..its really weird and i cant figure it out or my mech buddies...i was thinking the igniton switch or something..any help or ideas will be apreciated...thanks

 

When you turn the key to "on", before you start it, does the "Choke" light come on?

 

that light never worked becuz i took out the emissions and comouter along time ago..this just happened resently....theres a lil buzzing noise coming from the hazard box under the dash does that have anything to do wit it?

 

during the day its fine..but when i hit the brakes the gauge drops...and when i put the blinker on...its really weird lol

 

it might be a ac relay going bad only 12 dollars to replace

 

i just had the ac replaced a year ago..i dont know if that would be it

 

listen to it when turn key to see if its making a clicking sound you may want to use to people one to listen and the second to turn the key

 

alright ill go check it thanks..would it be anything else..is the ac realy the lil switch wit the wire on it ton the back of the compressor?

 

heres some more info..if at night when i have my lights on and just it my breakes it drops and goes back up when i get off the pedal...and it stays in between 8 and 13 and when i rev it it goes up like a rpm gauge lol so i hold it to charge the battery...idk if its a short or something but i didnt do anything it just happened...i really want it fixed and i cant figure it out for nothing...any help or ideas will greatly help thanks

 

Sounds like some wiring is messed up somewhere :/

 

Sounds like a bad ground to me. Is the battery still under the hood? Check the cables good. should have a ground to the engine and fender from the battery. The positve goes to the stater.

 

hmmm i didnt think about that ill have to go check and let u guys no wuts wrong the grond to my car is on the bracket to my alt and i dont no where the ground to the battery is?

 

Probably not anything to do with "ground".

Go back to the beginning. When you turn the key to "on", does the "choke" (actually the alternator light, mis-labelled) light come on?

This has nothing whatsoever to do with emissions or computers in any manner way shape or form.

 

ya it blinks and turns off after it starts...does it got to deal with my taillights i had the taillight mod in it and i took it out cuz it broke and i left the 3 blubs connected and didnt rewire it to factory but it was fine for a lil after that it just started doin this and its getting on my nerves..i dnt wanna sell it but i dnt wanna get stuck everywhere and look like an *** reving my car to 2k to charge it for a lil lol

 

wut wires go to athe alt? wut colors and where do they go maybe one got messed up or something..i really want this fixed asap i cant deal with it ha

 

Big red to the bolt on terminal. Other two go to plug in on side. Make sure the big red wire is tight. With a test light or meter you will have 12 volts on the big red wire all the time. On the other two, one will be hot all the time and the other is hot with the switch on. Make sure the belt is tight.

 

Sounds like wiring if the alternator and the batter are both good theres only 1 thing between them wires and connections clean them all with backing soda and water paste.... My alero back in the day had the same problem cause my main wire to the alternator was chafed and battery acid destroyed the connection at the terminal. This cause voltage dropping through the electrical system. replace your magic 3 wires with some new/heavier gauge wire and see how that helps. Replace your 2 ground wires (one to motor, one chassis) and replace the big read wire from alt to the batter. Then get a voltage tester (10 bucks for the autozone cheapy) and test the voltage at your fuse block.

- Only other side thing i can think of is maybe your belts slipping and not spinning the alt enough until you get it above 2K
other then that

 

What is the whole story with the choke light? Mine was acting funny for a while now it is off. I am 99.8% positive that the cluster, bulb and bulb socket all make a good circuit. I tested absolutely everything with my digital VOM and everything else works, every other dummy light and back light. Is it a good thing that it is off 100% of the time?


I would establish another good ground if I were you xgtharo86x.

 

How many amps is your alternator rated for? What about this?
Since the complaint is for night time only, I'd say the alternator isn't big enough. Do you have "upgraded" headlamps?

 

idk wut the rating is but i got a cap for the system and i turn it off b4 i turn the car off..and i replaced the belt already....where are the 2 grounds i only see one and the big red wire is blue...it happened like a mouth ago and everything was fine before that

 

Check the hot wires (should be a big one and a smaller one) at the starter, If it is bad or loose it will give this trouble.

Power goes to the starter then to the battery.

 

ttt...wheres the ground from the battery to the chassie i cant seem to locate it

 

follow the cable (not really a "wire") from the battery to the chassis. It should be /could be anything coming from the negative battery terminal to "somewhere." also, i think there are 2 other ground straps. One from the rear pasenger head to "somewhere" and also one from the transmission to "somewhere" on the chassis. doesnt matter where, as long as its good and snug and has good contact. My experience is with 90-92's, so there may be a difference here.

 

Check voltage at the battery with a voltmeter while the engine is running and all the lights on as you describe when your gauge reads 8V. My gauge reads 8V at night but when i check voltage at the battery its charging at over 13 volts, indicating the system is working fine. I have a problem with my gauge somewhere. You can't put 100% faith in a 22 year old gauge. Also aftermarket stereo equipment is mean to older electronics. In my 91 truck with a 105 amp alternator, i had mild stereo equipment and it strained my alternator enough to shorten it's life. Your alternator probably has trouble keeping up with the draw of your system also. Just something to think about.

 

ive had the system for 5 yrs it just started to do this....so today i cleaned all the termails off and re did the ground checked the starter and everything is fine i cant figure it out...no corossion not burn marks nothing...is there anything else?

 

Go get a $10 volt meter and check the volts at the battery and the alt. and also when the car volts read 8 volts, to see if the cheepo meter does to.

 

Definetly check voltage at the battery, i'd say thats step #1. Recently, harbor freight has been selling multimeters for 2.99. Not the best, but I checked it against my fluke multimeter and its not too bad. Something similar would work fine for what you need to do. The gauge cluster in your car isn't a good diagnostic tool-its more of an indicator that you may have problems.

 

ya but the battery dies at night if i turn the car off without reving it to make the volts go amps to 13...i tried unplugging each fuse last night...my dad said it might be the igniton switch..cuz he had the same promlem almost in his 88 GT