Thread: Electrical issue?

Units would be helpful....

maybe a bad battery cable or ground, or you got a beat rebuilt alt.

whats happening is the alt isnt pumping out enough to keep the battery happy. OR option #2 is your car has something left on like the bulb in the trunk all night that can cause your battery to go low.


had a 1999 durango we went to the airport to visit my grandma and grandpa we left 1 light on for 1 week and it drained the battery all the way down.

but in your case i would get the alt bench tested to see if its ok

Originally Posted by Mosley9423

What do you mean .....

The first time I read this I though you were talking about MPG. It wasn't until the end until I realized it was voltage.

check your connections on the battery and on the starter. make sure they are good and snug

Also check the current sensor around the negative battery cable as it is used in the charging system. It is normal for the battery voltage to vary between 12.5 and 15.1, but not to get the charging system failure. The current sensor tells how much the system is drawing from the battery and adjusts the alternator accordingly.

Jeff

I went through 2 batteries before finding that the red top Altima was the only one happy about trying to hold a charge around 15 volts. The gxp altnaters are known to overcharge (which isn't a bad thing) as long as the battery cells will tolerate it.

some makes/models charging above 13.5 is considered to be a problem. Welcome to gxp world where everything plays by gxp laws of physics

over charging is a issue for a lot of cars, i went through 2 rebuilt alts due to over charging, my truck hated being at 15+ volts, it didnt even run right, like the electronics were over loaded or something.

3 rd alt put it at 13.5-14 volts and the charging failure message went away and it ran right again.

It's not a GXP thing, it's a 04+ thing. The older cars did it as well to a lesser extent. The normal routine for the car is that with a charged battery it will start and charge at about 14V (unless the temp is very low then as high as 15). After several minutes of driving the voltage will slowly drop to about 12.5V and hold. If you are on a steady cruise you will see the voltage stay at 12.5 for about 20-30 minutes then it will rise to 13.8V for about 10 minutes and it will continue until you stop. At night the battery is monitored and depending on it's SOC and state of the battery itself and will go into reconditioning mode when it feels the need. When batteries start to go bad the system will go into that mode more often. The only time you will see the battery run at a constant 13.8-14.4 is when you have the lights on. The lights emit a set amount of light based on voltage and current so the voltage is set to maintain the same brightness. As far as batteries go any quality battery is fine. They will actually last longer since they are not constantly held at such a high level of charge which actually causes batteries to fail.

Jeff

Sorry about that I was under the impression it was only with the ls4 alt.
learn something new everyday