while driving home from work an hour ago, i noticed my lights were nearly constantly flickering faintly. this happened regardless of whether the fog lights were on, or high or low beams. i figured i had a loose wire so didn't think much of it.
then when i was almost home, the battery voltage gauge shot up and stayed topped out for a min or two then dropped back down. when it dropped back down, it was showing 14 volts instead of the normal 15 and would go up and down slightly as i was driving.
when i got home, i decided to test it a bit so with the fog lights, high AND low beams, the heater fan turned up to high and my foot on the brake, i also hit the buttons to put up both electric windows and the battery voltage meter plummeted, almost going down to 8 volts in just a few seconds. once i let go of the windows, brakes, etc, it went right back up to 14 volts just as fast as it had gone down.
is this a definite sign of the alternator dieing?
or could it be something else?
then when i was almost home, the battery voltage gauge shot up and stayed topped out for a min or two then dropped back down. when it dropped back down, it was showing 14 volts instead of the normal 15 and would go up and down slightly as i was driving.
when i got home, i decided to test it a bit so with the fog lights, high AND low beams, the heater fan turned up to high and my foot on the brake, i also hit the buttons to put up both electric windows and the battery voltage meter plummeted, almost going down to 8 volts in just a few seconds. once i let go of the windows, brakes, etc, it went right back up to 14 volts just as fast as it had gone down.
is this a definite sign of the alternator dieing?
or could it be something else?
Oct 21, 2010 at 5:30 AM