99 battery gauge question

[99EB5.0]

I recently had to replace my battery, and I'm not sure if I'm having another issue or if I'm just paying more attention to it and its nothing.

Question is, where is the needle normally at on your battery gauge. In relation to the battery picture where is the needle sitting. With heat on, and turn signal on mine drops a tiny bit when coming to a stop. This normal?

So looking straight at your gauge, not from where you look down at it while driving, where does your needle sit, at idle or driving. Thanks in advance.

 

[yavapaires]

I recently had to replace my battery, and I'm not sure if I'm having another issue or if I'm just paying more attention to it and its nothing.

Question is, where is the needle normally at on your battery gauge. In relation to the battery picture where is the needle sitting. With heat on, and turn signal on mine drops a tiny bit when coming to a stop. This normal?

So looking straight at your gauge, not from where you look down at it while driving, where does your needle sit, at idle or driving. Thanks in advance.

Not all gauges are going to show the same reading. What my gauge shows won't mean much for your truck. But, to answer your quwstion, mine usually sits at near the top of the icon, at the "plus". With the blower on, and the signals, a SLIGHT drop would be pretty much normal at idle.
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[99EB5.0]

I had my battery and alternator tested. Battery voltage was at 8 with the truck shut off. Battery is new.

Alternator was putting out 51 amps at idle, autozone guy said that was normal at idle...for a 130 amp alternator? Seems super low to me. Thoughts on this?

What should the alternator be putting out at idle?

 

[koda2000]

something is very wrong if you show 8 volts with the truck off. should be about 12.6 volts with a new battery. as far as amp reading, you should be more concerned with volts. with the truck running and no accessories on you should see 13.6-14 volts at the battery. sounds like your alternator isn't charging. with 8 volts i'm surprised your truck even starts...

 

[99EB5.0]

Battery was new a few weeks ago. Its just now started showing the battery light for about a minute at the first start of the morning. Im thinking the alternator is charging, just not putting out what it should be

 

[koda2000]

if the battery light is coming on you alt is NOT charging. probably alt is bad. you need to see 13+ volts at the battery with engine running.

 

[99EB5.0]

Went and picked up the alternator about an hour ago, guy still insisted there was nothing wrong with mine, swapped it out, took it back and had it bench tested...fail. The look on his face was worth the 150 the alternator cost. No battery light, gauge is back up and doesn't drop anymore with signals, accessories etc. My alternator was a motorcraft, by the way it looked id say it was original. Lasted 193k miles! Thanks for your help guys.

 

[yavapaires]

This is why I do my own testing. A good VOM is worth it's weight in gold ( well,maybe not gold, now a days). Use the headlights as a poor mans load tester, you can diagnose the charging system and battery as well or better, than most (not all) Autozone employees. You can tell if somethng is working or not. You may not be able to tell why, but most everybody just replaces parts anyway. You can usually save yourself a lot of grief. I worked for a short while at Autozone. Experience speaks volumes.

 

[koda2000]

glad to have been of help. i've also worked for several auto parts stores over the years. my experience was that if there are 10 people working at a store, at least 8 don't know anything except how to look parts on their computer (autozone's system is the best by the way) and half of them can't even do that correctly. whoever tested your alt on the vehicle should have started by looking at volts, then amps. you can buy a cheap volt/ohm meter for under $15. it's an invaluable diagnostic tool. mine cost about $90, but most of what i use it for can be done with the $15 version. makes me wonder whether you needed a new battery to begin with?

 

[99EB5.0]

I'm thinking I didnt need the new battery. However, the one in it was 7 years old and would have died soon enough, I know I won't have any issues for awhile now. Lights are brighter than I can remember, overall seems it's just running better, not straining. I'm not complaining. Thanks again.