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I've charged the battery over night and am letting it sit to measure storage voltage. It's sitting at 12.8v right now. Then I'll put it back in the car and check for parasitic draw. I'll read the alternator output again with the battery fully charged.
Let's not get all fixated on my 14.1v statement. I recalled that from memory. It could actually be higher.
My battery doesn't always exhibit low voltage. Just every once in awhile. So I'm not going to fly out and replace the alternator. I'm following the Bentley manual procedure. This isn't rocket science.
I've charged the battery over night and am letting it sit to measure storage voltage. It's sitting at 12.8v right now. Then I'll put it back in the car and check for parasitic draw. I'll read the alternator output again with the battery fully charged.
Let's not get all fixated on my 14.1v statement. I recalled that from memory. It could actually be higher.
My battery doesn't always exhibit low voltage. Just every once in awhile. So I'm not going to fly out and replace the alternator. I'm following the Bentley manual procedure. This isn't rocket science.
I’ve got a small led voltmeter that plugs into the cigar lighter, when i was having problems i left it in there so i could monitor charging voltages over a period of time, i got it off ebay for peanuts, definately worth a buy.
273246877930 is the item number on ebay.co.uk or the description is 12V/24V LED Car Cigarette Socket Voltmeter Voltage Battery Tester Detector Meter, i’ve even cut one down and made it a permanent fixture, i’ll post a picture later, for the price of these they should be in every toolkit
273246877930 is the item number on ebay.co.uk or the description is 12V/24V LED Car Cigarette Socket Voltmeter Voltage Battery Tester Detector Meter, i’ve even cut one down and made it a permanent fixture, i’ll post a picture later, for the price of these they should be in every toolkit
Mine usually is consistent at 14.4V but does fluctuate up and down, It was reading 14.8V here because I had just started it after a period of standing with the ignition on. I don't get concerned at fluctuations of .4V For me it's an early warning of a total charging failure. There are other variations of plug in voltmeters on ebay but this one does what i want it to.
Mine usually is consistent at 14.4V but does fluctuate up and down, It was reading 14.8V here because I had just started it after a period of standing with the ignition on. I don't get concerned at fluctuations of .4V For me it's an early warning of a total charging failure. There are other variations of plug in voltmeters on ebay but this one does what i want it to.
I have the same feature on my radar detector. One problem, though. The car cigarette socket is active only in the accessory or engine running position. One cannot see the voltage on the battery when the car is not running. When the key is in the accessories position and the engine is not running, the battery is connected to all the "stuff" and the reading shown is not that of the unloaded battery. One must take the reading at the battery terminals with the key out to get the true "battery at rest" reading..
I have the same feature on my radar detector. One problem, though. The car cigarette socket is active only in the accessory or engine running position. One cannot see the voltage on the battery when the car is not running. When the key is in the accessories position and the engine is not running, the battery is connected to all the "stuff" and the reading shown is not that of the unloaded battery. One must take the reading at the battery terminals with the key out to get the true "battery at rest" reading..
And that's why I'll be performing the parasitic draw test with an external multimeter.
09-29-2020, 09:57 PM
