Thread: Car battery voltage...

If it is normally higher than that, which it should be, was there another event that was occurring at the same time? Like playing your audio system really loud?
Did it do this just once and then never again?
If your car and anything in it is drawing more current than the alternator can supply, chances are than you will get dimming lights and a drop in battery voltage. A sure fire way to prevent this is to get a bigger alternator or have the stock one re-wound to a higher amperage.
High output aftermarket alternators are availible from AAMP of America and Ohio Generator.

there are a few options...

-new battery
-new alternator
-LARGE caps which would only last for about 1/1000th of a second. And the caps would accually be a detriment to the system after they had disscharged as they would also be trying to take power from the car to charge themselves.


This is the problem with the flat-pack regulators. they have that nasty .5 volt drop accross them.

good luck either way.

the CCA/cold cranking amps will have no real effect to the output voltage of the battery under load.

and this is why we all keep telling u that linear regulators are bad for a DC-DC supply!

The battery when charged holds around 12 volts.

The alternator, in order to charge the battery, runs around 14 volts...otherwise it couldn't fully charge the battery.

Most car alternators only put out that 14v to around 60 amps.

You start using ignition, lights, fan, etc. and you quickly use up that 60 amps.

Therefore if you use up that 60 amps, it will start pulling juice from the battery...at 12 volts. As the battery loses juice, the voltage drops.

So things that can help are clean your battery terminals, make sure your alternator is running correctly, get a bigger alternator like 120 amps, get a bigger (more storage) battery.

Dodge, how did you rebuild your dash surround? I have a 2001 Ram myself, and your install looks very clean.

Luckily you didn't look too closely

The '96 and the next couple of years had a flat dash with a big hole behind for the large Mopar radio.

I actually need to cut the dash trim plate more and do some fiberglassing so I can tilt the screen up a bit for better visability.

So the reality is my display just fit...and the head unit just fit up in the cupholder.