lil-bit

My car has aftermarket lights an sound system. bought optima yellow top and it died the other day after 8 months. took it to pep boys and they recharged it and said it was still good. my battery gauge is reading 13/14 and it moves down then back up while im driving? any idea why its so low? and if its a bad alternator... are they the same on the ls1 and the lt1? thanks for the help-

tennz28

If you want to test your alternator turn your car on and disconnect your battery. If the car stays running your alternator is good, if its dies your alternator is bad. But they have been know to slowly die out. Go to AZ or some other auto place they can test it for free.

haacer

iTrader: (1)

I've never tried this particular move on an F-body, but I know it's a bad one. If you disconnect the battery with the engine running, voltage will spike. The battery acts as a buffer and without it the charging system won't work correctly.

I observed this on HUMVEE, hitting the battery disconnect switch made the voltage jump WAY up while the engine was running. That vehicle didn't have a computer. Your vehicle does. There's no telling what a voltage spike like that could do to the various modules in your vehicle.

Instead of testing like that... Take the vehicle to Autozone and ask for a charging system test. Last time I checked they were free. If your alternator is bad, pay the extra $10 for the new unit instead of rebuilt. The rebuilds at Autozone are absolute junk.

lil-bit

ok thank you guys very much! Is there a high performance or maybe a good kind
i should look into buying. cause as you probably already know when you guys spend money on a part, im sure youll usually spend alittle more on somthing that will last and perform better? thanks once again

hammerdown2000

iTrader: (2)

the stock alt. is 102 amps i believe. go allot higher in amps like 160 amps or sooo...