this is really pissing me off right now. im having a serious voltage drop as per readings in the commander.



last nite i sat in the car with it idling at about 750 rpms and the voltage reading around 13.5. as i turned accesories on, the voltage dropped to about 10 while idling stayed pretty much the same. i had the fans on, lights, fogs, rear defrost and ac.

also when i go to start the car, hot or cold, i get a 12volt or so reading on the commander. when i crank the engine it drops to 5 or 6 volts and it sounds as if i had a dead battery, but it starts, eventually.



anyone have an idea as to where i should look first.



thanks





PS it almost catches on fire the other day too. the match went off before it hit the car....

uh, the match went off before it hit the car? Im a bit confused on that one.



Anyways obvious things to check are your battery, is it starting to go out? Or maybe your alternator?



T.c.

I would say your alternator..



How many miles do you have on your car?



As the alternator gets old, the brush sets get worn out and need to be replaced.. I'm not sure if you could just get the brush on the 3rd gen alternators.



I had to get a new one.. Its pretty easy to disassemble the alternator and check.

You could try adding some addition grounding straps and cleaning up the existing ones. You could also check the tension of the alternator belt.



Scott