volt meter jumping

[Chris_Heilong]

I remember reading something about this a while back here on the forum, I was watching the volt meter like a hawk today as I gave the car a good long drive yesterday and wanted to see if the voltage dropped today, lucky it was still at around 14v so I don't have to worry about the alternator,

but one thing I did notice was when I turn my indicators on, the needle in the volt meter is jumping a little. IS this normal or does it mean there is a short somewhere?

[goz_83]

If you're talking about a millimeter, you're grand and this would be normal. If you're talking an inch, you might want to get it looked at.

[Chris_Heilong]

cool thanks, no the needle just gets the shakes a little.

[Mitsinut]

I will say a few prayers for you, hopefully it is nothing, but the threads you might have looked at may have been mine, way back when I struggled with something similar. Does the needle ever go over 13.8/14?

[StewyD32]

Yeah that's fine if it moved a tiny bit when the indicator is on. It happened on my 2 FTOs and nothing ever when wrong over time electrical related

[Chris_Heilong]

Ill check on the drive home and try and get a video, cheers

[Kace]

Don't worry about it. It's normal.

[Chris_Heilong]

Thanks Kace, yeah I am not worried now. Here is the Video but it hardly moves. http://s1110.photobucket.com/albums/h446/heilong79/?action=view&current=up1.mp4

[Chris_Heilong]

crap monkeys!
I was driving up to Paul Nolan to get the belts and brakes done and the car cut out on me twice. Over the last 3 days it was taking a longer key turn to turn over the engine which I put down to the stupid alarm imobilizer which always acts up. Driving around the volt meter reads 14v but when I stop it goes to just over 12v, I did notice when waiting at the lights the volt meter would suddenly drop to around 6v for about a sec and the radio would flicker and restart, the battery light would also come on during this, then all of a sudden the car just cut out. I had to restart her and on we went, volt meter still reading 14v when driving. Just before I got to the security gates at the port tunnel business park it cut out while I was waiting for the barrier to lift. I made it to pauls but when he tried to start it he said he thinks the battery is flat. I left the car there and asked him to give me a call if there is anything up. Hope it is the stupid battery.

[Mitsinut]

Chris, sorry to hear, do a volt test on the battery as is and then get a new battery in there and test again.

I know when I started out with my troubles it seemed as though the battery was fried, but there is a reason they get fried too. I went through all the earthing and draining issues, but I would have been better off to bite the bullet and buy a new alternator.

Not trying to scare monger, but be prepared. I've had alternators pack up on a lancer, a galant, FTO and a Pajero twice, it is mitsubishi's nemesis....the great thing though is that they are gone very cheap on eBay and I wouldn't touch a reconditioned Mitsubishi alternator, ever....ever..cause it just takes too long to get them out and put back in...

[Chris_Heilong]

Mitsinut, I was concerned last night as thats when I first saw the drop in volts, it was fast and returned to 14v but felt like something was shorting out. My volt meter never went above 14v but it did get me reading all the alternator posts on this forum. I said to my self at least the car has never cut out on me, then the next day it did just that. I dont have the car now so will see what Paul says in a few days.

[Kace]

I'd bet money on the alternator. I'm on my 4th at this stage.

[Chris_Heilong]

here is a video of the voltmeter on the drive where the car cut out twice. Dosent look too bad but you can see it dip at about 23 seconds in.
http://s1110.photobucket.com/albums/h446/heilong79/?action=view&current=video-2012-08-09-11-24-23.mp4

[goz_83]

Pictures 7 and 17 are lovely. Once they go above 50, they start to creep me out.

[Chris_Heilong]

laughing my b*llox off! I guess if you see the pictures and there is no context.

I bought my house about 3 years ago, one day my dog dug up a dog skull, obviously the previous owners had buried a family pet after it died. Took a while to dig the whole thing up and dispose of it. I just hope there are no more surprises lurking under the ground.

[goz_83]

OK. We just won't talk about the other ones after the bones. Made it look like you were in cahoots with Kim Jon Il

[StewyD32]

Anyway back on topic after the CSI clipshow.
I'd get your alternator tested. There is something wrong there chris I'd say. It shouldn't dip that low. If it were the indicators at fault it's would barely switch as suspected previously.

[Chris_Heilong]

Did anyone notice Camskill have 3 diffrent kind of Alternators.

the 2 pin one for non mivec pre facelift.
the 4 pin one for GPX before (1997)facelift and a 4 pin one for after 1997 for all v6 models.

But is there not just 2 alternators for the FTO, ie; a 2 pin and a 4 pin. I know I need a 4 pin but want to buy from Ebay for my GX but if there are 2 versions of the 4 pin alternator then thats going to complicate things.

[goz_83]

Just check part number

I think I read somewhere that the ones on eBay don't last. You might look at a new oe one from camskill

[Chris_Heilong]

Yeah, I remember hearing Kace say something about the one they bought from Ebay failed after a few months and they were trying to get a refund as it had a 1 year guarentee. As far as I can see Camskill only sell Reconditioned alternator units. And for the one they say I need thats €254.36. And apparently its the same alternator as in the LEGNUM/GALANT VR4 which is 100amp.

[r10cky]

hi Chris,

was wondering if you got that problem sorted dude because mine is doing the exact same thing any help would be great on this

kind regards

[Chris_Heilong]

I had changed my Battery but the terminals where a little loose and rusted so I changed them for new ones, also noticed if you have the leads off the battery for a while the ECU resets and there is a procedure you must follow to retrain the ECU otherwise the car can cut out. You must leave the car to idle for 10 mins and then drive hard, that fixed the cutting out problem I had.

[r10cky]

I checked the terminals on the battery and also checked the alternator terminals and they seem all good nice n tight no rust or anything, yet I still get that problem. At times it does go over the 14 mark but comes back down other times I need to put the blower on full and put the rear window heater on to bring the volts back down.

Does anyone think it mite be the regulator that's going wonky or am I beat just taking it own and get it tested, I will try takimg the negitive wire off whilst its still running and see what happens. Is there a particular procedure for this as I have never done it

Cheers Chris and cheers guys for any info

[Mitsinut]

Hi r10cky,

Put a volt meter on the battery terminals when it is ticking over and check the results, should be around 13.2V then turn on the full load, lights, air-con etc.., it'll drop a bit but if you find it heading down to 12V and below, there is most likely an issue with the battery or the regulator. The regulator should kick the alternator in to recover back up to 13V or more. If the battery is weak or the results are bad, try another battery (that you know is good). If its not the battery you have to play the waiting game to see if the problem gets worse, short trips recommended.

Chris, was it just the battery terminals on yours?