low volts w/ air on, why?

paroxysym · May 7, 2009

i notice a significant drop when i have my air on in my 95. i replaced the battery and that worked for the time being, i notice that sometimes my belt squeals and cause the gauge to drop as well. is my alternator bad or what? i just replaced my battery last dec. so i know thats not the issue. when i run my air on high it dips beteen the middle and the red on the low side of the gauge..

Pelican · May 7, 2009

Your belt is slipping. Replace and/or tighten. How old is your belt and have you done any recent work on any of the components that it turns?

paroxysym · May 7, 2009

Pelican said:
Your belt is slipping. Replace and/or tighten. How old is your belt and have you done any recent work on any of the components that it turns?

hmm ok well ill be doing that soon. i havent touched the belt since i bought it last sept. i havent messed with any of the components.

kujito · May 7, 2009

Get yourself a KRIKIT II belt tension gauge from NAPA. I think Gates makes them. That belt should be @ 190# new and ~170# used, with a used belt defined as one that has over 15 minutes of engine run time.

scat · May 7, 2009

Belt tension may be the problem, if that turns out to be good, check current into the AC pully clutch. That component may be on its way out.

joe_peters · May 7, 2009

Congratulations, you have been Jeeped!

This article explains your problem and what you can do to fix it: http://www.olypen.com/craigh/charge.htm

I highly recommend 5-90's cable upgrade, worth every penny.

wim hoppenbrouwers · May 7, 2009

Hallo. Maybe there is a short in the system. The aux fan is running good? (kicks on when a/c is on)

'92 XJ

winterbeater · May 7, 2009

joe_peters said:
Congratulations, you have been Jeeped!

This article explains your problem and what you can do to fix it: http://www.olypen.com/craigh/charge.htm

I highly recommend 5-90's cable upgrade, worth every penny.

Good article. Another example of how vehicles are engineered to meet 85% of operating requirements while minimizing costs, vs robust designs. Then again, that's why meeting government design specifications can cost so much.

winterbeater · May 7, 2009

To try to fix initial problem here, remove, clean and reassemble all electrical connections associated with the charging system. Battery posts, cable connections, ground connections, alternator wire connections. And if you have those cheesy temporary battery cable connections, consider purchasing complete cables with the battery clamps cast in. JC Whitney has them at a very resonable price.

low volts w/ air on, why?

paroxysym

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Pelican

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paroxysym

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scat

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joe_peters

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