Typical 944 voltmeter reading?
 

My car chucked it's old crappy A/C and alternator belt yesterday (I knew it needed to be replaced), and I limped home on battery, just made it. I have to say, the "Exclamation point!" warning light going on gets your attention immediately and sends your eyes darting around the gauges looking for why it came on, and the secondary lights for low oil pressure and alternator failure make that happen very quickly. Good system.

I replaced the belt last night ($14.99 at Autozone, a miracle).

All is working correctly, but since that experience, I have been watching the voltmeter on the dash obsessively. It reads just a tiny hair over 12. Now, the truth is I am not sure where it ran before the failed belt. I thought more in the area of the low end of 13v?

But, I know this: The alternator is putting something out - I accidentally disconnected the positive lead on the battery when I noticed it was loose, and the car kept running (I know, BAD to do, but it was an accident.) Everything works fine. My ammeter/multimeter took a dump, I should get a new one and check the actual output at the battery, I suppose.

Would the belt being overtightened lower the alt output?

Maybe I should just shut up and drive it and worry if the battery stops staying charged. Paranoia may destroy ya, as they say... :)

Jeff

Typical car info:

Alternator & Charging System Checks (Alternator Testing)

Mine is average with doors shut (interior lights off) at about 1200 RPM

EDIT-is the AC compressor/clutch dragging?

John

Thanks for the link, John. Good solid info.


I know all the common checks, but, like I said, no multimeter. If the compressor is dragging due to mechanical resistance, it would not show the low reading when the clutch was disengaged, I would guess. The clutch os electromagnetic, how much does that draw on the charging/ele trical system alone?

What do most peoples' 944 dash voltmeters normally read?

Jeff

No voltmeter on my 924S.

Without a meter it is not possible to test.
Reduce Warranties with Battery & Voltage Drop Tests | AIM

GL
John

Mine also read low so I plugged one of those voltmeters into the cigg lighter
works quite well actually it showed little of 12 volts, compared it to one of my
other ones, ( i have a few) and it showed closer to 13 or more so I did a little
research and found that the alternators have voltage regulators with brushes
on them that wear, easily replaced with access to alternator.
So i replaced the regulator $25 for part and now it shows over 13 volts.
So my recommendation is to try this first and it should improve your voltage.

I have 13.6volts @idle I find it low

That is actually good, anything over 13 at idle is good, it should be between
13.5 and 14.0 while driving along.
Also turn on lights, a/c etc. and see if it stays about the same, if so you are good.