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General Forums => The Mess Hall => Topic started by: grumpygy on December 02, 2011, 07:06:30 PM
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I've got the 160 Alt from E-bay. Been working fine this summer. But this morning I noticed a problem. At Idle I had on Headlights, Fog Lights(which are HID) and the heater fan. Noticed that the voltage was reading low about 8.
Gave it some gas and went right back to around 14 and stayed there, but I did not sit at Idle any length of time. Also have not changed the wiring to hand the addition amps, its still stock.
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I've got the 160 Alt from E-bay. Been working fine this summer. But this morning I noticed a problem. At Idle I had on Headlights, Fog Lights(which are HID) and the heater fan. Noticed that the voltage was reading low about 8.
Gave it some gas and went right back to around 14 and stayed there, but I did not sit at Idle any length of time. Also have not changed the wiring to hand the addition amps, its still stock.
if it was around 8v (and it was not your voltmeter acting up) it means it was not charging, since you got back to normal voltage it was not b/c of the fuses, reasons can be excitation voltage from PCM, stuck brush inside the alternator or bad contact at the control wire going to the alternator. Could also be the main power wire from alternator but i doubt it (if it's loose and was not making contact, easy to check). Keep an eye on it, hard to tell now since it works.
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Could it be that the Alt Does not put out that well at low RPM was at about 800 rpm when this happened. This is also the 1st time I've run these fog lights.
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Could it be that the Alt Does not put out that well at low RPM was at about 800 rpm when this happened. This is also the 1st time I've run these fog lights.
depends if your near the max output of the alt at idle before you put your lights on otherwise it's like sharp says or your belt was slipping
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Could it be that the Alt Does not put out that well at low RPM was at about 800 rpm when this happened. This is also the 1st time I've run these fog lights.
if the fog lights are 100w, that makes it 200 total, at 12v that's something like 16.5 amps, shouldn't go down to 8v.
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I have the 160amp alt. I used my winch, it pulls 100amps according to the winch info. My alt drops down to like 12V for a second then picks back up to 14v running at idle speed. if your belts is not slipping then I would be getting the alt checked out somewhere.
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THanks thats what I wanted to know.
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Check with a voltmeter... Probably your gauge is acting up, mot yor alternator. I know this is the case in my Jeep, at least...
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Not the gauge as I heard the fan drop RPM when I turned on the fog lights. It did slip a little as that happened so may need to tighten the belt.
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The dash voltmeter in the YJ at least is no more than a idiot light. Mine drops when I turn on the heater, the radio the headlights etc and I have checked it with a hand meter and its always OK...
Dave
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The dash voltmeter in the YJ at least is no more than a idiot light. Mine drops when I turn on the heater, the radio the headlights etc and I have checked it with a hand meter and its always OK...
Dave
Mine drops to 10V when I turn on the AC. I have checked it with a Voltmeter, and it's fine, though.
Not the gauge as I heard the fan drop RPM when I turned on the fog lights. It did slip a little as that happened so may need to tighten the belt.
I can run my stereo (I run an amp), GPS, both radios (CB and 2m), headlights, 50W foglights and 100W driving lights without issues with my 164A (or so; dont remember the exact number) at idle. Of course, my Jeep idles at 1,000 RPM, not 800 RPM, and that can make quite a bit of difference for the alternator...
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Mine drops to 10V when I turn on the AC. I have checked it with a Voltmeter, and it's fine, though.
I can run my stereo (I run an amp), GPS, both radios (CB and 2m), headlights, 50W foglights and 100W driving lights without issues with my 164A (or so; dont remember the exact number) at idle. Of course, my Jeep idles at 1,000 RPM, not 800 RPM, and that can make quite a bit of difference for the alternator...
why does your Jeep idle at 1000rpm?
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The dash voltmeter in the YJ at least is no more than a idiot light. Mine drops when I turn on the heater, the radio the headlights etc and I have checked it with a hand meter and its always OK...
Dave
mine in my yj is always in the red saying it's over charging but I have tested it with a meter and it's 14-15v and I even ran a tester on it at work and it passed. it will drop down to 8v when using my winch to but I put a meter on it and it doesn't really drop lower then 10-12v.. I just ruled it out as my gauge isn't accurate so it doesn't bug me anymore.
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I think its related to the itty bitty wires they use under the dash to run the gauge too much voltage drop in the harness?
Dave
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my voltage gauge goes up and down with the blinkers... I'm not too trusting of it.
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Mine shows a drop in voltage when put in reverse but it seems to be OK at the battery.
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Hmm, mine actually holds at around 14v. Although I know it's not that accurate. My 2M radio has a volt meter built into it so I can double check it at start-up. The stock gauge is pretty cheap though. It comes out easy enough. I'd like to eventually change out all of my gauges for aftermarket sealed units. If your Jeep has a cowl leak, it usually leaks into the back of all the gauges which causes them to be inaccurate over time.
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my voltage gauge goes up and down with the blinkers... I'm not too trusting of it.
Noticed that tonight. Did not drop as low as I thought cause the gauge only goes down to 9 V. and it did not go that low More like 10.5 was as low as it got.
Need to look my fog lights up cause they sure do put a draw on the system.
Here is what I got for fog Lights they should not put that much strain on it.
H3 12V 35W Xenon HID Conversion Kit 3000K