Charging problem?

[jre97]

I have an 88 daytona 2.2 turbo. It isn't charging very strong actually kinda weird. When I run my wipers the gauge jumps around, headlights go dim and bright at an idle. The car starts missing when the charge gets really low. The battery has never failed to start the car. Every now and then the belt wil squeal and it's almost guitar string tight. The alternator has tested good using the autozone tester. Any Idea whats causing this?

[Lee'sdaytona]

damn I would've guessed your belt wasn't tight enough...lol....Well what is the condition of the belt? if its warn away, it may be too tight. But usually squeeling means not tight enough. How are the connections to your alternator and battery? are they all clean and tight? I would especially look at the battery connection and clean it and put some dialectric grease on it.
anyone else have some thoughts?
-Lee

[cordes]

Check your grounds.

[jre97]

Everything is clean, grounds look good, when I firdt got the car from tonyz2897 the negative terminal was broken and I replaced it hoping that would fix it but it didn't. I think I remember reading somewhere that the voltage regulator is in the ecm could it be bad? I might try swapping in a spare to see if that helps.

[turbovanman²]

If your belt is squealing-its too loose and will cause your issues. I bet the belt is worn or the bushings are shot and its tilting sideways a bit-this happened on my friends Shadow.

Do you have a multimeter?

[jre97]

Do you have a multimeter?
Yeah I've got one. I just didn't test it since it checked out fine at autozone.Of course I should know by now that doesn't mean anything after they tested my taurus and said it was fine and it turned out the bushings on a 200000 mile alt. were so worn that it was shorting out and drawing current with the key off and running the battery dead.

[turbovanman²]

I would check your voltage at rest-engine off, should be around 12 volts. Have a buddy start it, shouldn't dip below 9.6 volts. If it does-the battery is weak and needs replacing or charging and to be retested.
After you get it running, should be around 13.5-14.5 volts. If yes, so far so good. Now have buddy turn on all the lights, high beams, full blower fan, rear defog and maybe even unplug the coolant sensor to turn on the fan. It should still be around the above voltage-if not, have him rev it up, to say 2500, if it shows ok, then its all good, if not, then the alt is bad or the comp. To figure it out, shut off engine, disconnect battery and then disconnect the 2 little wires on the back of the alt. Get 2 pieces of wire, with clips would be great. Hook one terminal to the battery, the other just clip on the alt. Have buddy start it and rev it up to 2500, now watch the voltmeter and touch the clip to ground, if it charges, the computer is bad, if not, the alt is bad-only do this for a few seconds or you will destroy the alt as this is full fielding it. Of course, an amp guage is way more accurate.

[jre97]

Thanks I'll see if I can get Tony to give me a hand with that this evening since I'll be helping him with his motor build anyway!

[jre97]

Ok checked the alt. and battery with a voltmeter. They check out ok battery was like 12.2 and the alternator with car running was 13.8. I also noticed today when I run my turn signals the gauge bounces with the flasher. Which grounds are the ones to look for?

[turbovanman²]

Basically the battery neg to ground-its at the head, the intake to firewall, the right engine mount to body and you can add more for shits and giggles.

[MiniMopar]

There is also a body ground from the battery to the driver's side fender, under all those harnesses. Often the area gets rusty and the connection goes bad. The main ground to the body on a pre-90 is through the head to the firewall, as Simon said.

[turbovanman²]

There is also a body ground from the battery to the driver's side fender, under all those harnesses. Often the area gets rusty and the connection goes bad. The main ground to the body on a pre-90 is through the head to the firewall, as Simon said.

Hmmm, good info, didn't know about the ground from the battery to the fender.