Voltage Gauge - easy solution

[VaSteve]

I have been riding around with a multimeter in my car due to a suspected failing voltage regulator. I have not been able to observe the condition while driving on my meter. Someone at a Porsche gathering turned me on to this gadget. It's a "battery monitor" from Walmart that plugs right into the cigarette lighter.

I had some trouble finding it at Wally World, it wasn't in the collections of other in car junk, it was on the side of the car battery rack.

Because of the large size of the cigarette lighter in the 911, I bent the metal tabs out with a screwdriver for a better fit.



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[tcar]

Didn't know about wallmart, I bought the same one on ebay for a couple bucks.

[Justin@Athens]

I just bought the same one a couple weeks back. I really like keeping an eye on it too! Although, I bet you have already noticed it really doesn't stay seated in the socket very securely. I ended up prying the contacts out a LITTLE bit and it stays in better but not great.

I'm running 14.10 when the car is running.
And maybe about 13.30 when parked.

Do those numbers match your car?

[HarryD]

The Cigarette lighter solution is ok, but in my mind, unsightly. I went to my local FLAPS and bought a small gauge and installed it. It is connected to one of the switched wires that powers my radio.

My install looks like this:

[Justin@Athens]

I thought about putting an analog gauge in like yours where my clock is currently, but the considering how small the optimal voltage range is, by the time you notice something is not right it'll be too late. I think a digital readout is absolutely necessary to ensure the correct voltages are always displayed in an very apparent manner.

[dshepp806]

Luckily, my radar/laser detector has a function to see voltage....very convenient.

I would suggest, however, that you check the battery terminal voltage inorder to compare to what you may be seeing at the cig lighter.......they (easily) could be different due to various valtage drops.......just a thought.

Best,

Doyle

[VaSteve]

Originally Posted by Justin@Athens

I'm running 14.10 when the car is running.
And maybe about 13.30 when parked.

Do those numbers match your car?

I just tested it this evening and was getting about 13.9 when cruising along and about 13.3 when idling.


But at idle, I do notice the battery shaped light (above the 3rd digit) occasionally flickers. I can't find anything in the manual as to what that means. The light on the dash doesn't flash at all.

[Justin@Athens]

The fact that your battery light on the dash is going on and off (seemingly intermittently) does indicate a possible bad VR in my book. You could also have a loose sender wire from the alternator back to the DME causing the alternator to shut off/not charge the battery when needed but that is less likely unless you've had the alternator out lately.

How old is your battery? I recently replaced my alternator and starter, and after that did not fix things bought a battery at walmart--and my problems seem resolved! (I suspect a combination of the changes fixed things)

Your charging voltage (with the car running) is a little lower than mine. Make sure you have the lights, fan and radio off and see if you can't get 14v.

My battery tested good at autozone, but I cannot dismiss not having any more problems after replacing it.

[VaSteve]

Originally Posted by Justin@Athens

The fact that your battery light on the dash is going on and off (seemingly intermittently) does indicate a possible bad VR in my book. .

The light/icon on the gadget flashed not the light on the car. And it was just a split second at a time, so much that I had to focus on it to see what it was.

[dshepp806]

That cig connection can be quite tricky after running down the road a bit, in terms of connection integrity.

At idle, with your device measuring the voltage at the cig lighter position, what voltage are you reading across the battery terminals?

Thanks,

Doyle

[Duke]

Here is a pic of one I bought several years ago. Not a permanent solution but it can be moved to another car if needed.

[rw7810]

How about one of these?


Heads-Up Voltage Monitor™ Single Voltage Indicator



You could mount the LED inside one of the guages...stealth.

[pplkook]

rw7810 Now that is a cool solution, thanks for the link. Could easily install it in one of the dash vents for a cleaner look.

-Jack

[tyro]

Originally Posted by rw7810

How about one of these?


Heads-Up Voltage Monitor™ Single Voltage Indicator



You could mount the LED inside one of the guages...stealth.

Very nice. Wish I'd seen this post before I bought another gauge.