hudman

My battery gauge used to behave itself and hang around slightly above the -0- with little or no fluctuation. Now, it seems to be wanted to run along at the +20 side of the gauge while accelerating or at cruise speed. It will settle back down towards -0- at idle or with a draw (ex. foot on brakes for brake lights, etc.).

I had Napa check the battery and they said it was fine, but had a low charge. I charged it on the charger and with a full charge, the gauge behaved fine. Next day, the +20 came back.

Alternator is charging fine according to a test. Battery has not stranded me yet. Could something be wrong with the battery even though the test turned out OK?

turtlevette

you need a new alternator.

cardo0

A loose electrical connection is really hard to see from here in California. Really could be a loose connection or maybe just a bad gauge. So try and wire up a multi meter (good solid connections) to the battery or alt or what ever and go for a ride. New meter does same thing? Or maybe disconnect things (pull fuse) one at a time and again go cruise'n. And yea, you could hook that meter up to your installed meters wires (again use good solid connections) and go driven.
Happy hunting. cardo0

cardo0

Oh ooh. My bad. Sorry. You have and ammeter (not a voltmeter). That means that +20 is a high charge rate from alt. A voltmeter may not help for this problem (unless you know how to measure current/amps). This really sounds more like a bad gauge as a weak battery would only gradually increase the charge rate. Or may be a bad alt - losing regulation. Guess you could measure alt voltage output while at +20. Does alt voltage increase too? If not suspect gauge/ammeter.
A short would cause a drain or decrease.
Just verify one thing at a time and take notes.
Good luck. cardo0

hudman

I have replaced the voltage regulator (external) also, and again, the auto parts store says that the alternator is charging fine.

I guess I can change the battery and see what happens.

Boofers

My money is on the ammeter. With a multimeter connected in series with the car's ammeter you could verfy its operation.

Larry B.

One thing that batteries do when they are going bad is continually charge but not hold the charge. You have a battery on it's way out.