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Ive been having a problem with my voltage being very low for a while now, and I am at my wits end! A few months back I installed an optima yellowtop battery in my 2001 s10 and also upgraded the alternator to positive wire with 0 gauge and the battery negative to chassis wire, also with 0 gauge. If it matters, as a note, I am only using a 100 amp fuse for the power wire, even though my alternator is 105 amps. Anyways, ever since I installed this setup my voltage has been very low, and never seems to go back up. It was always around 14 volts before, and now even when starting the car and trying to rev the engine, it never seems to go much higher than 12-13 volts. After driving the vehicle around a bit, sometimes it slowly gets down to the red, and my lights end up being extremely dim all throughout the car. Also, with the system playing, the voltage drops a lot more than it did even without the big 2 done. It becomes even more noticeable that there is a problem when playing the system, as that is usually when the voltage ends up going torward the red, and it takes a very long time without the system running for it to charge back up just enough to reach 12 volts. I thought it was the alternator at first, but I had it tested at autozone and it appears to be fine, battery also appears to be holding a charge just fine. Wierd. Now this is where it gets really wierd. I have the stock alternator wire taped off and put to the side, since im using the 0 gauge for the power wire, and when I completely disconnect the positive battery terminal from the battery, the car keeps running! Very wierd as there should be no connection from the battery or the alternator to the engine with the positive disconnected. Whats even wierder is that when I do this, the voltage goes up, almost to where its supposed to be, closer to 14 volts, and as soon as I reconnect the positive to the battery, the voltage drops like a ROCK. I figure this may be a clue to whats going on, but I truly dont know enough about this stuff to know what the problem is. All I know is I had this EXACT same setup in my 99 blazer, which is basically an s10 in SUV form, and everything worked perfectly. Voltage stayed above 14, and the lights never dimmed, even when wanging my subs. I am hoping someone could shed some light on this for me, because it appears that my thicker wire is somehow making the alternator charge the battery even less. Please help, thanks.
Posts: 23 | From: MD | Registered: Sep 2008
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yup, does it every time. Just imagine the head ache when you have 10 or 20 and only onr or two have a bad cell, you are lucky. All I can say is good call Do_u_SQ , just ran into the same prob last week.
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strange... I just had the battery tested today at advance, and it passed. I have a ? tho, when testing the battery as a spiral cell on their machine, what number do you put in? At first, they tested it as a cca battery, the cca rating on my battery is 650 so that is what they put in. As for testing it as a spiral cell, they put the same number in. What would be the correct number to input?
If the battery is the culprit, and their tests come back as the battery being good, how am I going to get them to agree to an exchange? They are probably not going to let me exchange it for a new one if it tests good.
Does anyone think its the alternator? I am beginning to think that might be the issue. Id also like to know how the heck the engine stays running with the positive cable disconnected if I have the stock alternator wire disconnected. Because there should be no connection at all when taking the positive terminal off since the only connection from the alternator is my 0 gauge wire and the plug in.
Posts: 23 | From: MD | Registered: Sep 2008
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as a note, I am going to take the 0 gauge wire off and reconnect the stock amp wiring to see if there is any change. If it doesnt work, then I guess that would mean that it is indeed the battery or the alternator. My mechanic explained to me that it may be the alternator even though it is still putting out charge. He said that there are diodes "?", cant remember what he called them, but there is something in the alternator that can go bad and cause the alternator not to put out what its supposed to. Not sure if this is correct or not, but I am trying to rule out every possibility. I am planning to do an install that will require a much larger wattage requirement than I now need and will require an h.o. alt., and I really need to figure this out before I can do that.
I also want to note that I never discharged the battery, I was having this problem as soon as I installed the battery brand new.
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I did have the alternator tested by my mechanic with one of those big voltmeters, he did it on the battery posts, and both the alternator and battery were reading a little less than normal. I do want to correct one thing, I had said that the voltage always hovers between 12 and 13 volts, but it is actually hovering at around 12 volts or lower.
Posts: 23 | From: MD | Registered: Sep 2008
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also hoping someone can please tell me about these bad cells, and what it means if my battery is still testing as good. Is a bad cell undetectable by a normal test? Anyone run into this situation buying these batteries from advance? Im just wondering how im gonna get them to exchange it for a new one if its testing as good...
Posts: 23 | From: MD | Registered: Sep 2008
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can a batt.. meter good say 13.2 voltz and still have a bad cell ???
-------------------- Team Ascendant Audio Team FI Team Tsunami Team Kinetik Team Sundown Posts: 263 | From: port richey florida | Registered: Aug 2006
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yep, thats what im trying to get an answer to. hopefully someone will chime in. I hear termlab is the most knowledgeable forum out there, so im sure someone on here knows.
Posts: 23 | From: MD | Registered: Sep 2008
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Have you tried your old battery? Or did you have to turn it in? I agree it sounds like a bad cell, is there a loner battery that they will ley try?Never hurts to ask, as far the diodes mentionted,depending on the alternator, that is a rectifier, there are three of them. Normally you will hear engine noise through the audio, the diode helps isolate the A/C from D/C, the a/c where you hear motor noise, Easiest thin, try another batttery and check your voltage.
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optimas suck these days for some reason. They do what they want. you can test and it comes out fine. then you can run and a cell well just crap out then suddenly become fine again. I suspect your grounds aren't very good. but i had that same problem with a yellow top. test it with a volt ohm meter at the battery post.
-------------------- "You know it's loud when all of your seats are Port-O-Potty's!" 2001-02 251-500 trunk class champion. Coming back with a vengence! Posts: 40 | From: Knightdale, NC | Registered: Nov 2002
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yea, I dont have my old battery anymore. I may go to the junkyard and try to get a battery used for cheap and get it charged and tested and try it. Then we will know.
Posts: 23 | From: MD | Registered: Sep 2008
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lol, went to get a used battery, went to put it in and noticed that the posts are on the wrong sides. Funny.
Posts: 23 | From: MD | Registered: Sep 2008
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it's time for a new alt. make sure you get the highest amp alt that they provide for your car and get life time warrenty cause yellow tops eat alts.
-------------------- GLASS CITY SOUNDS 419-973-7999
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hm...this is interesting. you may be on to something. I will take some pictures. What should I be taking a picture of though? Just the wires coming off of the battery? Or do I need to post pictures of the back of the alternator? The alternator is extremely hard to get to on my vehicle, the 2.2 is a pain in the butt since the alternator sits underneath the engine, in the 4.3 which is what my blazer had, the alt. sits right on top, so very handy.
Posts: 23 | From: MD | Registered: Sep 2008
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by the way, im completely confused by that diagram there, im not exactly sure what all the abbreviations stand for, and I am not sure what kind of alternator I have. I am pretty sure the only connections are a power wire, and a 4 pin plug in, and thats it.
Posts: 23 | From: MD | Registered: Sep 2008
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easier said than done. The alt. is hard to get to in my vehicle unfortunately. Would testing it on the vehicle suffice? Autozone did test it with a voltmeter for me on the battery posts and it was putting out a lil less than it was supposed to. If I do post some pictures for you will you be able to tell me if it is still running on that voltage since wire?
Posts: 23 | From: MD | Registered: Sep 2008
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posted
try taking the wires off the battery and see if the car dies if not then test with meter. with the wires off the battery and see what its putting out with it disconnected it should go to full charge with it not sensing the battery voltage if its still seeing low 12s then i would look into replacing your alt with the highest amp u can
