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eletrical gurus, thoughts needed

mjdriver

mjdriver

NAXJA Member #1376
Location
Myrtle Beach, SC
Alright, 87 comanche with a winch, stereo w/ a 500 watt amp, 4-5 year old optima red top batt. and a 140 amp alterator.

My battery volts meter in the dash never comes out of the red anymore. no matter how long I drive. Even when turning every thing of in the truck. I know I should put a volt meter on the battery to see if that is the problem first, but is there any other things to check.

TIA

allen
 
could be a bad meter. not sure how long optimas usually last but thats pretty old for a battery. which alt do you have? have the battery tested.

...are you saying its reading high or low?
 
update:

The battery is reading 12.75 at the terminals.

the in dash meter is reading 10? volts, while driving.
the alternator is an aftermarket unit from some place in texas, I don't remeber the name though.
 
12.75 running or not running?
 
12.75 not running, I didn't get running read.
 
Yeah those in-dash factory volt meters are 100% pupu. I hated mine until I accidentally broke it. I superglued the needle at 12 volts and I'm permanently satisfied with it.
 
Mine generally reads low and at first I was concerned. So I busted out the old fluke 87 and saw it was pumping out about 13.5 running. Now when I look at I just keep in mind it reads a little low and just make sure it doesn't drop lower than what it normally says.
 
where does the in dash volt meter get its reading from?

I remember when I upgraded my battery cables it was reading 14 volts on the dash.
 
that's the first thing I'd do if I had upwards of 13V with the engine off. Replace those cables if you haven't done so already. I changed all the high draw cables on my 00 XJ with 00 wire (was free and readily available) and haven't had any problems since.
 
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