Car not staying charged

98mustanggtkid · Jun 17, 2008

So as of late my car has been harder and harder to start i drove it on thursday and then put it in the garage for 3 days cuz it was raining ant my vert top leaks so today i went to take it out in the afternoon and started it up, really hard to start i was shocked it started. forgot something inside so i have to turn off the car and go back in. i came back to start the car and it was completely dead. like it wouldnt crank over at all, i think i may have a short somewhere im not sure, i do have about a yr and a half old 200 amp alt, and a new yr old battery

if im driving the battery gauge looks like this

but if im sitting at a light or just idling it looks like this

sometimes its actually lower depending what accessories i am using.

I do have under drive pullies on the car but it never used to drop this far only a small bit, i didnt start having this problem till my old alternator completely froze up and cracked the bolts that hold it

any ideas?

i mean i know its not supposed to jump that low with the pullies

i had my alternator tested when i first got it and they said it tested fine so maybe it actually is a defective alternator, it just took a bit to crap out

Any help would be great thanks

Chris

98mustanggtkid · Jun 20, 2008

Spooling2Valve · Jun 20, 2008

mine had the same problem as urs, turned out to be the alternator. even though they tested it and it turned out good, they do have a built in regulator and tend to go out. mine ate 2 autozone alternators and i effin went to ford and never had a problem since. i would also check those 2 plugs that go into the alternator cuz the locking clips break off after time and with the vibration will back out.