Charging Problems

[shrades79]

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i have a 94 gt aode, while idle with lights on the voltage is about 9 the car is equiped with underdrive pullies i have no idea what kind because they were on there before i bought the car, the only pully i know for sure is an underdrive is the crank. after the car begins to warm up during night driving the volts drop way low causing the stereo to cut in and out lights dimming alot more than before and recently the rpm gauge droped all the way to zero but the engine was still runing, this only happens in city driving and i try to keep the rpms up by turning o/d off or driving in 2nd no matter what when i come to a stop the problems are there, as soon as i shut the car off and run arrons or something the car will not start jus clicking and is totally dead hook jumper cables up and it fires right up, i jus bought an optima red top battery and problems are the same, is this all because of underdrive pullies or may i have something wrong with my alternator? ive been told to replace the voltage regulator inside the alternator what do you guys think? if you have any ?'s i didint answer please ask id like to be able to cruise around in my car with out fear of it not starting back up for me

 

[Lightning Struck]

the pulley on the alt is a nightmare, however with you having a better alt than what the fox cars did, it should not be as bad. I had pulleys on my 91 and had the same issues your having now . Do you have the stock pulley to swap on and see if that cures the problem? You can always go to the local auto parts store and have them check your alt to make sure its not on a down hill slide.

 

[shrades79]

i do not have any stock pulleys, if the alternator checks out fine would u suggest getting rid of the underdrives all together or would just putting the stock alternator pulley be enough?

 

[Lightning Struck]

you could just ditch the alt pullley, you not having any cooling problems are you? If not let that one b

 

[shrades79]

i was having cooling problems during the summer and ive been looking to find some stock pulleys but its being a pain to find some

 

[Steve-Oh]

I've had the same on going problem with my car. I changed back to the stock alt pulley and still the problem continues. I think my problem is that the alt doesn't pump out enough juice for all the acces. i'm running (stereo, gauges etc.). My next step is to by a higher output alt and see if that solves the problem.

 

[shrades79]

i bought a 2 5/8" pulley for my alternator, the one one there now is 2 1/4" well see if it changes anything....What is the stock size for the alternator pulley?