I have a GMC safari van, when the cars on the voltmeter fluctuates between 13 an 18ish, and I hear a rhythmic wirrring sound that matches the movement of the needle and of course the pulsing lights. This happens if either everything is on or everything is off lights, heater, stereo but after driving for a while the meter sits calmly at 14 volts. I got the alternator bench tested 8 times at auto zone, passed everytime.
I believe its the voltage regulator inside the alternator. I had the same thing with flickering lights and the alternator tested fine. I replaced it anyway even though it was under warranty and the problem went away. Was the battery tested? When the engine is running, this measurement should be If you don't have a multimeter to tell you the voltage of your battery, you can do a test of your electrical system by starting the car and turning on the headlights.
Degrading Performance of Electrical Components. Growling or Whining Noise. Smell of Burning Rubber. Warning Light. If you measure 1VDC and you see it vary in the 0. It may be due to a coating on the meter lead probe tips. Signs of a dead car battery Your dashboard warning light.
Your dashboard warning light comes on. Engine cranks slow or not at all. Your engine cranks slowly or won't start at all. No radio. Your radio doesn't turn on. Swollen battery size. Odd smell from your battery. Your battery is old. Check engine light flashes. Resting fully charged volt batteries are around The voltage regulator can be mounted inside or outside of the alternator housing. If the regulator is mounted outside common on some Ford products there will be a wiring harness connecting it to the alternator.
If this is occurring, it could theoretically reach a point where this "cycling" of the voltage limiter would occur every "7 seconds or so" or other interval as the battery and the charger try to reach their own "Nirvana".
If it is in fact due to the battery charger voltage limiter action, AND the fluctuations occur only when the key is ON, the vehicle alternator may be the source of the spike. With the key ON, the vehicle voltage regulator will energize the alternator FIELD windings whenever the vehicle electrical system voltage is less than the voltage limit setting of the regulator. Any change in the voltage level of the vehicle electrical system either higher or lower change will cause the alternator output windings stator coils emit a "pulse" of current, even though the alternator rotor is not spinning.
To visualize that, think of the non-moving alternator as if it was an ignition coil with the rotor field windings acting as the PRIMARY coil windings and the stator windings acting as the secondary windings. Any change of voltage level in the rotor windings will produce a pulse of induced current in the stator windings. On an analog voltmeter the pulses would appear as a fluctuating spike similar to AC. Thank you, gentlemen, for the replies. In answer to you, mownie, in the initial post, I meant that the fluctuations were from the dash mounted volt meter.
The fluctuation occurs when motor is running and when the key only is on not running Same type of fluctuation and interval which as I said is between 7 and 12 seconds.
The fluctuation duration is only a fraction of a second - the brevity of a clock tick. Only discovered the battery charger meter was also affected when I checked the battery and discovered it was a little low and decided that if I was going to be checking things out I'd start with a fully charged battery.
The battery charger phenomenon occurs when the charger is on and connected to the Jeep and the ignition key is in the off position.
The fluctuations occur on the dash gauge and the charger simultaneously. Hope that clarified things. Bill, thank you for the suggestion. Will try that. Bill, the clock actually came to mind, but I figured I was the only person old enough to remember how those old analog clocks worked, and why they worked that way. How was like you said, they had a tiny electric motor that would "kick on" to wind the main spring that powered the mechanical movement of the clock. Why was because the clock would not be accurate if simply powered by a DC motor.
Varying voltage levels would run the clock motor at varying speeds, and cause the clock to show an hour with 62 minutes or 58 minutes for example.
There are hour meters still made and used today that have mechanical movements driven by main spring and motor for the same reason, system voltage variations. To isolate the alternator from this scenario, disconnect the wiring from the alternator after first removing the battery negative cable. Tape the end of the battery wire of the alternator. Reconnect the battery negative cable and hook up your charger as before. Wait and watch for the fluctuation to occur. I was also thinking later Possibly the computer or clock memory is maintained by a storage capacitor.
A "leaky" capacitor could be drawing much more frequently.??? I know that's kind of out there, but Mownie and Bill-- Sorry not to get back to you sooner -- haying. The plot thickens. Still did it with alternator out of the loop. BUT, pulling fuses did give some results. Apparently the wipers have a breaker. Looks like a metal version of a fuse, but larger. With that pulled -- no needle action.
Now for maybe more information than you want or need. When the breaker is plugged in with the ignition on, it is warm to touch. Can a bad voltage regulator cause no start? Can you check an alternator by disconnecting the battery? How far can I drive my car with bad alternator?
How do you check for a short alternator? What causes an alternator to short out? Is it possible to short out an alternator? How do you know if your truck alternator is bad? Can AutoZone check alternator? Will check engine light come on for alternator?
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