charging issues

[SouthCaliVR4]

yes, a voltage drop test. check while the circuit is under load. put one lead to the alt output lug & the other to the batt pos, any voltage showing is how much is being lost in the circuit. same thing to check grounds. anything over say half a volt is going to be to much & indicates a bad connection.

 

[yeti]

do you mean check the circuit with the car running and rpms at 4000?
if not how do i check under load?

and are these the leads your talking about

 

[yeti]

i researched voltage drop test and still having a hard time understand how to perform the test
any suggestions
maybe it will click but right now its just not going threw in my head

 

[yeti]

do i just point ohm-meter at clips?
while there connected to battery and alt?
and if it reads any volts that's bad?

 

[mitsuturbo]

bet ya blew the primary fuse.. check 'em all
especially the big 80a one in the corner of the fusebox under the hood

 

[yeti]

80a fuse?

am i missing it or looking in the wrong location?

 

[Barnes]

Wrong location. The alternator fuse is on the fuse block that bolts directly to the positive terminal of the battery. It only has four fuses and they are all the large style fuses.

 

[yeti]

k
my battery is relocated to the trunk so would it be just lying there somewhere?

 

[yeti]

ALSO IS THE FUSEblock what i have a picture of under the hood?
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/dunno.gif

 

[Barnes]

The picture you show is ONE of the car's fuse blocks. Off the top of my head there are three. The one you pictured, the one directly attached to the battery, and the one under the dash. Find the positive terminal of the battery. There should be a black box attached to it, and underneath that are fuses.

 

[Rausch]

Quoting yeti:
k
my battery is relocated to the trunk so would it be just lying there somewhere?

Most likely not. I'd Imagine it's located under your hood somewhere, as it's be a good bit of work, and pretty pointless, to move it to the trunk with the battery... Keep looking, it's probably in there somewhere.

 

[yeti]

And as for the voltage drop test
Should I but a multimeter with digital gauge (20.00$)or a circuit tester with a test light(3.00$)

 

[SouthCaliVR4]

Has to be done with a voltage meter, you load the circuit by running the car, sometimes will work if you simply turn on the key. I don't know where the 4000rpm question came from but idle is all you need. you're just looking to put an electrical load on the circuit.

An ohm meter will work to tell you if the resistance is really high or if the circuit is just plain open but the small amount of voltage used by the meter in this mode will not show a marginal ground or connector.

also a test light requires very low amp load to light & is only really useful for determining is the circuit has "Potential" it will not tell if the circuit is good loaded, unless you build a test light set up with a varying load ability. Ie one that you can add & remove bulbs from to simulate the load of the circuit you're testing.

For your purposes just start the car, connect one end of the meter to the charge lug(The one with the plastic ring, that should have the wire with the rubber hat attached to it) & the pos connection of the battery, now since your battery is in the trunk you can use the lead your main fuse pack is attached to, the one that would have been connected to the pos term of your battery in the stock location. it would be best to check all the way to the pos side of the battery if you have an extra length of wire to make the distance.

 

[yeti]

i didnt know if the car was under load while idling is where the 4000rpm question came from.
but i understand that part now

will look for a voltage meter and do i need alligator clips or will probes work