Volt meter

On the road again after a broken clutch rod and associated nonsense . Mark Allison and crew fixed me up and sent me on my way. OK prices from people that know fiats ( plug ).



My problem is this, on the ride home my volt meter bottomed out several times but now reads normal for a fiat meter. No red idiot light while driving but works when starting the car. Got home without a stall and checked with my meter which shows normal ( 13.1 to 14.2 normally and 12.9 with the air conditioning and radiator fans going). I bought an inexpensive cigarette lighter voltmeter ( instead of taping my volt meter to the dash ) and it also reads about the same during driving as a volt meter on the battery.


So, the question is; bad dash volt meter or, loose connection somewhere. and where to start looking.



Enjoy the summer.


Vincent dba enzo mac

I'd start with cleaning all the dashboard grounds

very scrupulously and thoroughly. Also there are several large plastic connectors that clip to the dashboard printed circuit board. Make sure all the contacts on those connectors are good, and have good spring action for a tight connection. Finally, make sure the PCB itself does not have any damage along that circuit.

Good luck, hope you find it!

Pete

Vince... I would suspect a loose connection on the...

alternator FIRST.

The same folks replaced that recently as well... and its usually the LAST THING I did is the cause of a problem also.

What I am a bit confused about though is the dash VM versus the cigarette lighter VM... Do they BOTH drop down or are you saying only the dash VM drops...

If BOTH drop, have your son wiggle the wiring going down to the alternator while you watch the gauge.

If only the dash VM drops... follow Pete's advice. HTH.

OH... i

If you are referring to your '85 (I checked your profile), and you are saying that upon first starting the car the voltmeter red warning light comes on and the voltmeter reads low (say 11-12v), then when you blip the throttle or otherwise increase engine RPM to say above 1500-2000 RPM whereupon the voltmeter jumps up to say 13-14v and the light goes out?

Then the answer is:

Normal behavior for the Bosch internal regulator and alternator.