voltage problems

[mast240 10+ year member]

what problem were you having before??

i doubt its the alt.. but like i said, give it a couple days... and see if it corrects itself, and then take it from there

but like i said... the MOST likely cause, is one of 2 things

either its

A. the alt is just putting an extra load on the engine, and the ecu needs time to correct the fuel map, for a proper idle

B. it s pre-existing condition, which will be aparent in a couple days... in which case, i would start by checking your fuel system

and just so no one decides to get another stick up their ass about my advice... i'm not saying that this is for sure the problem, or that its the only thing it could be... just trying to give you a good starting point bro (hopefully it will correct itself tho, and you wont need a starting point)

 

[SourDeez 10+ year member]

what problem were you having before??
i doubt its the alt.. but like i said, give it a couple days... and see if it corrects itself, and then take it from there

The problem before was the same. low voltage at idle, i just figured it was the alt. But now I know its not.

This is a picture of my voltage, idling at a stoplight. Not a single accessory had been on since I started the car. I know thats not right.

 

[mast240 10+ year member]

do you feel any unusual vibrations while its idleing? and how old is your batt?

 

[SourDeez 10+ year member]

do you feel any unusual vibrations while its idleing? and how old is your batt?

Nope, dont think I feel any vibrations. My battery is maybe 3 months old. I got the best one oriellys had of their brand

I'm gonna try a diff battery and new belt tomorrow. Gonna start ruling the cheap stuff out firsti guess

 

[mast240 10+ year member]

yea... thats a good starting point.

did you have idle drop before when your were in gear?

 

[SourDeez 10+ year member]

yea... thats a good starting point.
did you have idle drop before when your were in gear?

Before the alternator swap? Yes. This is why I bought the new alternator, to hopefully stop the voltage drop i was getting.

 

[mast240 10+ year member]

hmmm.... kinda hard to troubleshoot completely over the web bro... but i'm goin to say that i'm pretty sure if you had idle drop before, it could be a pre-existing condition (possibly fuel) ... it could also be the batt... which could pull large amounts of amps at idle, causing more load on the engine, causing idle drop... or it could be a mixture of all, a bad batt, causing a large load for the old alt, and the new alt needing a "break in" period. best bet, is check the batt tomorrow... if that's not it, give it a day or two, and see if it corrects itself, and if not... start looking at the fuel system

 

[SourDeez 10+ year member]

Sounds good bud. Thanks for the help. Ill update as I find out

 

[mast240 10+ year member]

no prob bro... shoot me a pm if you need anymore help later on

 

[GrandPrixAlpine 10+ year member]

1.) yes i know what i'm talking about
2.) i'm not saying he is having deto in his engine, that any of his plugs are fouled, or that it even is a fuel problem... just that its a good place to start looking, if he is still having idle drop in a few days

3.) i'm giving hypotheticals here... you said lean conditions cant cause fouling... i rebutted... and you attack me, calling my knowledge into question... lets try your knowledge..

alot of engines run in a mild state of deto... with no damage at all. it's not optimal, but does not garuntee any type of internal failure. a lower output engine ,lets say .5 hp/in3 or lower (majority of american made 6 & 8 cylinders), can sustain mild-moderate levels of deto, without sustaining any damage, while a higher output engine, 1.5 hp/in3 (majority of import 6 cylinders & 4 cylinders), will be more susceptible to damage if it sees deto at all..

point being, with him driving a vic... his engine probably runs in a minor state of deto most of the time, due to a moderate level of spark advance, without any problem... now, if his A/F mixture goes a lil leaner, due to the reasons i listed in previous posts, it can cause the pressure spike from deto to rise substantially for a brief period of time, which in turn can foul a plug.

your turn //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/typing.gif.fd7c44a94b6ea7a328969e3ae0e010f7.gif

True most porly tuned street motors run with in a mild state but a mild state would not cause a fouled plug. and if it spiked, like you say he would be hearing a nocking.

if a person knew how to and had the tools to be able to keep their motor properly tuned they would see an increase in mpg and a overall better running vehicle.

sorry jumped the gun a little ya never know the peoples knowledge on the internet unless you test it.

procced with electrical as i sit here and learn.

 

[mast240 10+ year member]

True most porly tuned street motors run with in a mild state but a mild state would not cause a fouled plug. and if it spiked, like you say he would be hearing a nocking.if a person knew how to and had the tools to be able to keep their motor properly tuned they would see an increase in mpg and a overall better running vehicle.

sorry jumped the gun a little ya never know the peoples knowledge on the internet unless you test it.

procced with electrical as i sit here and learn.

no harm done brother.... i understand where your coming from on the deto point... but when i'm trying to help someone out, i try to "dumb it down" as much as possible... just incase they dont know that much about said problem... which is why, i have to assume, he could be not listening for a ping... and a short spike in pressure from a deto problem, would cause a short sound, that could be easily overlooked (by someone who doesnt know what their hearing), and in effect cause a fouled plug... not calling sourdeez knowledge into question here either... but i would just rather "dumb it down", then go into all my technical geek talk, and completely lose someone, lol

 

[SourDeez 10+ year member]

Engine purrs. No pings. I only got 80k on the car and its been taken well care of.

I also am gonna look into an overdrive pulley

 

[LosIsATool 5,000+ posts]

Voltage regulator?

 

[Rawr-DQ 10+ year member]

Alternators turn on at like 1.5k=-2k rpms, when they charge their output can very some have 16v, some have 14.4, batteries are normally around 12-13.8v without the alternator charging, the low rpms could be associated with voltage drops when they system is going, I once kept a cylinder or two from firing while playing and idling on a weak electrical setup.

Fixes include separating the engine electrical from the amp power batteries using a isolation relay. Try a different engine block ground, make sure all connections are sanded shiny and cleaned + tight.

here is my big three before I had a kinetik battery

 

[Falcons 5,000+ posts]

To basscort2009, my battery light went off after I ran the engine or about 5 more minutes longer. And I'm getting a Ho alt next Monday and along with that prolly a deka. And I don't get why people get upgraded battery terminals as I just used the brass ones from wal Mart.