I was driving my car to work today when i noticed the dummy light for the battery come on. It dosent just stay on though, heres whats going on.
On the way in, if the car was under 2000 rpms, the voltage gauge would read normally where it always is(about 3/4 up the gauge). Anything over 2000 and it would drop to just below the halfway mark and the battery warning light would come on, but it was litterally like a switch at 2000rpms.
Now i went outside at lunch and checked if the belt was tight, and it is. there is very little slack in it which seems normal.
So i drove it at lunch and now its even more random when the droppage happens. sometimes it would drop between 1500-2000rpms, sometimes it wouldnt, and sometimes the only time the voltage came back up was when the car was idling. Also, over 3000 rpms the voltage jumps right back up.
Im thinking its the alternator. anyone else have any guesses. The car is running normal, same as always, it hasnt died yet...
Check the ground strap on the block - had a very similar (weird) problem and that was the culprit....unfortunately I found out after multiple batteries and alternators!
The problem ended up being a wire that was soldered inside of the alternator, it came loose and hte fluctuation was most likely caused by the wire touching and coming off. Just an FYI, the guy that fixed the alternator told me that PA performance alternators are nothing but chinese junk, he sells OEM ford 130 amp(they actually put 150 out) alts for 105 bucks if anyone wants his contact info let me know