VOLTS??? Help if you can.

[DeLiSh]

When I accelerate my 91 loyale my volts go up fast like my RPMs. At about 3kRPMs my volts are around 18!! is this to hot? When I Idle the volts hang out around 12v where I think they should be since it is a 12v system. Also sometimes on cold starts my Volts max out I would say above 18v and my radio starts to ************ out untill I bring the RPMs down. If this is bad do I need a new Alternator, Voltage Regulator, Batery. Please help.

 

Cheers

Delish

[Bobby_boucher]

I would check the voltage at the battery with a multimeter before trusting your gauge. hook up the multimeter and it should charge around 14 with the rmps up.

[stephenw22]

That's a sign of a failing regulator. If you're courageous, you can replace it yourself, but otherwise you might just want to grab a 'new' one from the junkyard.

[KStretch55]

What Stephen said.

[Syonyk]

You also don't want to drive it much if at all until you fix it. The system should be around 14.5-14.7v normally. Much above 15.5-16.0v and you run a risk of damaging stuff (like the engine computer, stereo, etc).

 

-=Russ=-

[zyewdall]

You also don't want to drive it much if at all until you fix it. The system should be around 14.5-14.7v normally. Much above 15.5-16.0v and you run a risk of damaging stuff (like the engine computer, stereo, etc).

 

-=Russ=-

 

I second that. After you get it fixed, you should also check the battery fluid level -- if it's one you can get into. Voltage anything over about 15 will cause increased water loss, and can boil batteries dry eventually. You see this alot more on poorly adjusted PV systems than automobiles, but it can happen if you car regulator is set too high as well.