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Engine Specific Tech
94-95 5.0 - Specific
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<blockquote data-quote="mcglsr2" data-source="post: 1316973" data-attributes="member: 15705"><p>By voltmeter, you are referring to the voltage gauge, yes? And you do have a light - unless you removed it? It's called the charge indicator lamp. <span style="color: #b22222"><strong>The voltage gauge has absolutely nothing to do with any of this. All it does is get power from a fuse, and display the car voltage. That's it. </strong></span>It's not hooked up to your alternator at all. What <strong>*is*</strong> hooked up to your alternator are those fusable links I mentioned, the charge indicator lamp (with the resistor), and the power wires. There's also the rectifier (which is the voltage regulator), but that's essentially built in to the alternator. That's it. If your voltage is low, it has to be one of those 3 things causing it.</p><p></p><p>--OR--</p><p></p><p>You have a short somewhere and it's pulling down your voltage. Here's a quick test: unhook the alternator completely. Run the car off the battery, with no lights, no radio, nothing power on. Just start the car and let it idle. Measure your voltage - should be around 11.8 or so. Put on your headlights. The voltage should drop, but not tremendously. If your voltage plummets, there's a short in the lights wiring. If lights are good, turn them off and try turning on other things one at a time: radio, a/c, etc. and measure voltage each time. If the voltage always stays fairly good and doesn't drop significantly, the issue is something with your alternator, refer to the 3 things I mentioned above. If, on the other hand, you are still dropping tons of voltage, you have a wiring problem, most likely a short, and this has nothing to do with your alternator.</p><p></p><p>Note: for the above, to measure your voltage, just use the two terminals on the battery. Don't bother with other wiring just yet. Just go across the two terminals with your Multimeter. As you put a load on the battery (i.e. you turn on your head lights), you will see a drop across the two terminals.</p><p></p><p>FWIW, I have a 95 GT, I am referring to the factory manual (I have the honest-to-god paper factory manuals, not google-searched manuals), and I have replaced my instrument cluster completely (including all the idiot lights which includes the charge indicator lamp [and it's resistor]) with aftermarket gauges & lights; so I should have some familiarity with your car, unless you have changed things drastically?</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="mcglsr2, post: 1316973, member: 15705"] By voltmeter, you are referring to the voltage gauge, yes? And you do have a light - unless you removed it? It's called the charge indicator lamp. [COLOR=#b22222][B]The voltage gauge has absolutely nothing to do with any of this. All it does is get power from a fuse, and display the car voltage. That's it. [/B][/COLOR]It's not hooked up to your alternator at all. What [B]*is*[/B] hooked up to your alternator are those fusable links I mentioned, the charge indicator lamp (with the resistor), and the power wires. There's also the rectifier (which is the voltage regulator), but that's essentially built in to the alternator. That's it. If your voltage is low, it has to be one of those 3 things causing it. --OR-- You have a short somewhere and it's pulling down your voltage. Here's a quick test: unhook the alternator completely. Run the car off the battery, with no lights, no radio, nothing power on. Just start the car and let it idle. Measure your voltage - should be around 11.8 or so. Put on your headlights. The voltage should drop, but not tremendously. If your voltage plummets, there's a short in the lights wiring. If lights are good, turn them off and try turning on other things one at a time: radio, a/c, etc. and measure voltage each time. If the voltage always stays fairly good and doesn't drop significantly, the issue is something with your alternator, refer to the 3 things I mentioned above. If, on the other hand, you are still dropping tons of voltage, you have a wiring problem, most likely a short, and this has nothing to do with your alternator. Note: for the above, to measure your voltage, just use the two terminals on the battery. Don't bother with other wiring just yet. Just go across the two terminals with your Multimeter. As you put a load on the battery (i.e. you turn on your head lights), you will see a drop across the two terminals. FWIW, I have a 95 GT, I am referring to the factory manual (I have the honest-to-god paper factory manuals, not google-searched manuals), and I have replaced my instrument cluster completely (including all the idiot lights which includes the charge indicator lamp [and it's resistor]) with aftermarket gauges & lights; so I should have some familiarity with your car, unless you have changed things drastically? [/QUOTE]
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