flickering voltmeter

[keating254]

91 base 4x4 ranger. voltmeter flickers at idle, smooths out under headlight load or reved up. Battery too low to start twice this week. Took to local auto electric and battery shop, young mechanic tested battery and alt., said a little high on alt output. Tested battery ( 30 mo. old) with motor running, said fine. Too low to start this a.m. Pulled into parking tonight (dark), turned off headlights, voltmeter flickers, parking lights flicker. 4.0 V-6. also, 2 of 3 wires that go to connector at rear top of alternator are cracked, could this be problem ?

 

[natenkiki2004]

Could be the cracked wires, they might be corroded inside.

Take the battery out and go to an auto parts store, have it tested off the vehicle. If it checks out then find another shop to test the alternator.

You may have to get a new alternator connector and splice it in to get rid of the corrosion. If you do this, make sure to solder and heatshrink the connections. Never crimp (unless you solder afterwards), you'll just end up with problems down the road.

 

[Rhett]

voltmeter flickers, parking lights flicker. 4.0 V-6. also, 2 of 3 wires that go to connector at rear top of alternator are cracked, could this be problem ?

Yes, that is most likely the problem. I had this same issue, and it was the exact wires you describe (main output from the back of the alternator). Symptoms were intermittent low voltage.

I spliced in new wire, soldered, and put heat shrink on it -- working great now.

Be careful though -- the wires have been arcing, probably for quite a while. This may have damaged the voltage regulator. So you might fix the wires, only to discover that the reg is fried. That is why your tech reported high voltage...it is spiking from the damaged wire.

 

[Wolfie_85]

I had the same issue, but with me, it was the battery cables. Fixed that, and all was well.