low voltage

[LeofromtheH 10+ year member]

here's the scoop.

i have a kx 1200.1 and a 15 L7 in my truck currently. now i haven't been bumping much lately, just normal listening really. but recently, as in the last few days(id say probably the past week) my truck has been getting low voltage from the get-go. as in, as soon as i start the truck, it sits right above 11volts.(dont have digital readout so i'm going off the voltage gauge) in addition, the truck has some trouble turning over, as i would expect with low voltage. also, i put 1/0 for the big 3 probably about 2 weeks ago, don't know if that would have some affect on things?

could someone chime in as to why it's so low? i've unplugged things like my phone charger, and ipod charger so they're not in use while the truck is off, and made sure all things were off like dome lights, etc. etc. the only thing that is on while the truck is off is the LED for my alarm, which only blinks about every 10-15 seconds or so.

could it just be my battery shitting out on me? i have had it for some time.

thanks in advance for the help

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[LeofromtheH 10+ year member]

nothin ?

 

[hoss 5,000+ posts]

sounds like the battery possibly. take it to auto zone and have them test it.

 

[matrxx dude 5,000+ posts]

sounds more like the alternater

 

[hoss 5,000+ posts]

sounds more like the alternater

i am by no means a charging system guru, so dont take it as a challenge here //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

but i was just wondering why you would think the alt? all alts i have seen fail go all out at once, once they fail, no charge at all. if that were the case, it seems to me that his batt would have been dead long ago since this has been over the course of about a week.

however, if there were just enough juice left in the batt to turn over and crank, then the truck could run off the alt, with lower voltage.

again, im just wondering the reasoning on why you say alt. i still personally think battery //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif, but im open to hear your reasoning.

 

[matrxx dude 5,000+ posts]

well all he has to do is take a multimeter and test the voltage when the truck is running versus off,and yes alternaters can do some freaky shit when they on there way out,but yes the battery is a good guess to,multimeter ftw

 

[matrxx dude 5,000+ posts]

and also the fact he said as soon as he cranks his truck it still looks like its only putting out 11 volts.

 

[Exploder 97 10+ year member]

the alt is crappin out....

 

[LeofromtheH 10+ year member]

thanks for the replies fellas. i'll go and have my battery tested at autozone soon. but yea it still did the same thing wheni went to work this morning. struggling to turn over, and sitting right at about 11.5ish v. it used to be that as soon as the truck would start, it'd sit right under 14v, then slowly drop to around 13ish while driving(give or take bumpage and voltage drops due to this) so i found it awkard it was so low.

would autozone also be able to check out the alternator too? i'll look at the volts with a mm today if i get the chance before going to autozone though. should i test both at the battery and alternator? i'll come back w/ some numbers and see what's up

 

[audiolife 5,000+ posts]

autozone can check both for free

 

[geowick07 10+ year member]

x10 on having AutoZone check the alt and battery.

I have personal experience with an alternator going bad slowly. My g/f's Ford Probe began losing voltage and having severe dimming. I originally thought battery. Took it to autozone, and to my surprise, the battery was fine. So then, I had them check the alt, and sure enough, it was only putting out about 1/3 of what it is supposed to. Got that replaced, and viola! No more electrical problems. Good luck with the fix!

 

[LeofromtheH 10+ year member]

so it's back to basics.

i went to autozone alittle while ago to pick up some stuff for an oil change and had my stuff checked out. battery was fine, so was the alt. come to find out, the connection at the alternator was not up to snuff. therefore, it would move and volts would fluctuate.//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/blackeye.gif.66a1670f5aaf7f406e783a63e3387dc5.gif//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/banghead.gif.8606515f668c74f6de0281deb475b6fd.gif

volts sat right under 14 on the way home so everything seems good to go.

thanks peeps for the help though. much appreciated

 

[hoss 5,000+ posts]

doh!

doesent it seem like its always something overly simple //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/tongue.gif.6130eb82179565f6db8d26d6001dcd24.gif

oh well, easy/cheap fix //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[LeofromtheH 10+ year member]

lol i know right, i felt dumb when the autozone guy was like, 'looks like the connection is just loose'. and he would wiggle it and the voltage would go up and down everytime he did.