Eletrical Issue: 10.9 voltage while driving.. bad ground?

[badass8]

Just last night 1/7 I was driving on the freeway then all of a sudden I look at my turbo timer and my volts are at 10.9-11.1 with one headlight working and my Dash very dim... random right?

So I pull off the road and try disconnecting my battery cables and putting them back on.. start the car still that low..

Long story short volts are still low.. But car will start ,but every night I disconnect the battery cables just in case..

I assume this is a bad ground and I plan to look for it tomorrow ,but is there any other possibilities from this??? Just trying to get suggestions before I look at basically every wire tomorrow.

Thank You.

[KaminaSan]

Alternator. Take it to any autozone etc, they can test it for you.

Don't fuck around with it. There are a lot of things that can go wrong with a car, but one that will 100% for sure leave you stranded, on the side of the road is a dead alternator.

[badass8]

just got that rebuilt so I know its not that,
when the car is moving the volts go higher because the alternator of course, SO I know that's not the case.

[badass8]

any other suggestions by chance??

[timohtee]

Can you check what the post on the alternator is putting out voltage wise? It should be 13 to 14 volts.
Also, there's an inline fuse from the battery to the alternator that might've blown
Hope that helps

[bb4_96]

re-check the alternator.

[codyace]

just got that rebuilt so I know its not that,
when the car is moving the volts go higher because the alternator of course, SO I know that's not the case.

I'd get it rechecked again for sure. REbuilt or not, it can still be fubar

[slider2828]

Rebuild alternators are what like 20 years old now? LOL..... I don't think anything is made to last that long....

[badass8]

haha alright alright re check alternator it is because 10.9 volts is WAYYY too low.. just figured it wasn't that because once i start moving the volts go up due to the alternator but could be wrong.

[KaminaSan]

haha alright alright re check alternator it is because 10.9 volts is WAYYY too low.. just figured it wasn't that because once i start moving the volts go up due to the alternator but could be wrong.

You aren't understanding... the alternator isn't dead, but it's probably DYING, or in the process of it.

As such, it's not giving full juice at idle, and is struggling under load. I give it about a week or two before you see the E-Brake+Battery light combo pop up on your dash.

I used to work at Sears Auto, where we would install reman. alternators, and they would come back ALL the time a year or two later.

[badass8]

You aren't understanding... the alternator isn't dead, but it's probably DYING, or in the process of it.

As such, it's not giving full juice at idle, and is struggling under load. I give it about a week or two before you see the E-Brake+Battery light combo pop up on your dash.

I used to work at Sears Auto, where we would install reman. alternators, and they would come back ALL the time a year or two later.

ok sounds good thank you very much.

[badass8]

UPDATE... but a bad one:
Driving down the street and i hit a stop light and bam car dies..

Tried jumping it wouldn't work it would charge ONLY off my friends car.. once the cables were taken off the car died instantly.

Going to get my battery replaced tomorrow then I have to find a SR20 alternator...
Any suggestions? Seen that people use KA alternators but you need to drill it...
Hard choice SR20 harder to get and more expensive but KA alternators easier and cheaper but not the best way of doing correct?

[BlacknboostedS13]

You use a DOHC KA alternator.

What you have to do is:

-Swap your 5-rib pulley from your bad SR alternator onto the KA alternator(SAVE THE KA's PULLEY[in case you ever have to return it])

-Drill out the threaded hole on the KA alternator where the bolt for the tensioner bracket is threaded(the SR uses a "through-bolt" setup

Thats what I use on my car. Whenever it goes out I just reswap the pulleys and take it back to get a new one, they never notice I drilled out the threads >:] lol. This whole setup is super easy to do and will save you a ton of cash, I've never had a problem with it. Its this or you can use a Nissan Quest alternator.

[KaminaSan]

UPDATE... but a bad one:
Driving down the street and i hit a stop light and bam car dies..

Tried jumping it wouldn't work it would charge ONLY off my friends car.. once the cables were taken off the car died instantly.

Going to get my battery replaced tomorrow then I have to find a SR20 alternator...
Any suggestions? Seen that people use KA alternators but you need to drill it...
Hard choice SR20 harder to get and more expensive but KA alternators easier and cheaper but not the best way of doing correct?

Just know... I called it first. Glad you are getting it taken care of.

[riptor]

I have two...sr alternators..and my car does the samething...two bad ones?

[badass8]

You use a DOHC KA alternator.

What you have to do is:

-Swap your 5-rib pulley from your bad SR alternator onto the KA alternator(SAVE THE KA's PULLEY[in case you ever have to return it])

-Drill out the threaded hole on the KA alternator where the bolt for the tensioner bracket is threaded(the SR uses a "through-bolt" setup

Thats what I use on my car. Whenever it goes out I just reswap the pulleys and take it back to get a new one, they never notice I drilled out the threads >:] lol. This whole setup is super easy to do and will save you a ton of cash, I've never had a problem with it. Its this or you can use a Nissan Quest alternator.

oh ok a hell of a lot easier when said that way... figured itd be a lot harder... thank you appreciate it. and hell yeah warranty! :wavey: