'99 Voltage Gauge and Readings

[ksaldibar]

Hey everyone. I was wondering if anyone knew the voltage readiong range for the gauge on my '99. I'm wondering this because when my truck is all warmed up and its night with only my head lights and heater on with the fan at max, my gauge drops alot. A friend of mine and I used a multimeter and with the truck running and nothign on, it reads 14.4 V and with my heater on high, headlights, factory fogs, rear defrost, radio and roof mounted hella 500s with piaa bulbs, it reads 12.0-12.1 V. i then revved my engine up to 3000prm and held it and the meter read ~13.7-13.9 V. we connected the multimeter to the battery hot and neg and then the alt as well and the readings were the same. going by this, it seems that my alt is charging just fine. could my gauge be going? anyone else have this happen to them? any input is always appreciated. thanks alot and happy holidays

-kenny

 

[mydland89]

my 99 ex, voltage gauge stays at about 13....all of the time, regardless of the load on the electrical system....well at least until I play the stereo while camping for about 4 hours then the gauge reads a little low; LOL.......

 

[Four0Sport]

all those accessories are gonna drop your volts a little.. how much im not sure. i had a 1000 watt amp hooked up for a week and now whenever i run my fan full blast, hold down the power window buttons, or even sometimes just drop it in gear the volts drop down to bout 10 - 12 then go right back to 14.. another ford mystery.

 

[ksaldibar]

i know, but i just found it wierd that all it took ware the head lights and heater with the fan on high, thats all.

kenny

 

[Four0Sport]

yeah.. one night i had to persuade my gf not to turn the fan on full blast while we were drivin to go out bc with the head lights and runnin the heater full blast the guage dipped for a second. she said it was gay, it is but oh well.