Battery gauge fluctuating

[rezyy0]

Hey guys so my car seems to be running fine, but my battery gauge fluctuates really bad. When I first start my car, my headlights and cluster gauge lights noticeably flicker. It didn't start happening until recently and there's no change in the performance of the car. Any ideas on what it could be?

[rezyy0]

Anyone? I'll grab a video of it tomorrow and post it and see if that helps maybe.

[FooseGalant]

Have you done any work to the car lately? Maybe under dash or fuse box area?

[rezyy0]

Have you done any work to the car lately? Maybe under dash or fuse box area?
I haven't, but I did replace the alternator like, 6 months ago, I was thinking maybe it could be that.

[FooseGalant]

I haven't, but I did replace the alternator like, 6 months ago, I was thinking maybe it could be that.

I did that also. My new one fried internally and burnt the winding. If it is a V-6, I suggest checking the wires from the alternator to the battery. They take a lot of heat and some models had a recall for that wire segment failure.

[rezyy0]

I did that also. My new one fried internally and burnt the winding. If it is a V-6, I suggest checking the wires from the alternator to the battery. They take a lot of heat and some models had a recall for that wire segment failure.
It isn't a v6, but I was wondering if autozone could test it with their machine they have and maybe see if something shows up weird. If not I could always take it back and get another with the warranty.

[demond0d5]

you've got high resistance somewhere. look for a build up of corrosion on the alternator and on both battery terminals. follow the battery ground wire to the chasis and check there. then on the back of the engine behind the manifold will be a braided strap, look around it too

[rezyy0]

Ok so an update on this. Yesterday when I drove to work my battery gauge sat at around 9v. Driving home, it dropped as low as it could go, and my lights started dimming, my radio was turning off by itself, and my gauge cluster was going wacko. Fast forward to today, I went to autozone because my first suspicion was the alternator. The guy tells me to check the battery first so I went and brought the battery, they recharged it, tested it, everything was good. Well, I went back so they could test the alternator, and they couldn't. They said it didn't have enough voltage to test it. They told me to check all the grounds, check my sub wires, and then to come back when I fixed that. So when I got home, like 10 minutes ago, I figured I'd check and see if anything would be different if I unplugged the alternator completely. Nothing changed. It ran the same when I plugged it back in. So, should I go back and tell them, or should I keep checking for a wire somewhere that might possibly be giving me issues? Also the alternator is less than a year old, I bought it around December last year.

[demond0d5]

I'm confused...you had the car running and then took the power wire off of the alternator? The wire that runs to the battery?


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[rezyy0]

I'm confused...you had the car running and then took the power wire off of the alternator? The wire that runs to the battery?


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Well kind of. I ran the car without it plugged in, and then ran it with it plugged in and there was no difference in the way it affected the battery. My gauge showed no charging to the battery, and it didn't go up to 12v like it usually is at. It stayed at around 9 or 10v.

[rezyy0]

Ok, one more update. I fixed it. The ground wire that connects to the alternator had all sorts of corrosion and melted plastic stuff around it, so I brushed it all off and sure enough, it started working fine.

[demond0d5]

you've got high resistance somewhere. look for a build up of corrosion on the alternator and on both battery terminals. follow the battery ground wire to the chasis and check there. then on the back of the engine behind the manifold will be a braided strap, look around it too

called it.