I bought this car 2 months ago. This gripe could have been existing at the time. I'm not sure. Just got home after working 50 days so I can't remember

 

Bought the car in the midst of the PO trying to fix it.

Started it up yesterday after two months, noticed the voltmeter on the dash was unresponsive.

The car started but it got me curious.

Metered Over the battery and got 11vdc. Swapped in a spare alternator and got 14.xx vdc. So it had a bad alternator and was running off battery, but my voltmeter is still at zero.

 

Everything else on the dash appears to work.

 

Have you seen something like this before? Any help would be great Before I start chasin wires and looking in the drawings.

My volt meter is way off in my brat.  I suppose it could be fixed.  Probably a lot easier to just run a generic meter into the car, rather than spend a whole day tearing apart the dash. 

Good point. After driving it for a day it appears to work every now and again. Right now it's showing under 12v where metering across the battery gives 14.3v.

I should know better but just to confirm I'm not overlooking anything right? It's the gauge that's wrong, the system is charging just fine right?

mine isn't broken compleately but when i turn my vehicle off, the voltage gauge falls way below where its suppose to be, but oh well, and yeah you can buy a $8 digital voltage display at walmart, thats what i did.

Edited May 1, 201510 yr by Subasaurus

14.3 volts is good.

 

Below 13 volts or above 15 volts is cause to worry.

 

Corrosion of terminals is possibly an issue here.

Then again, vehicle is getting older every day.

Things don't always work like they should.

 

Aftermarket gages are a good thing, especially for oil pressure. The stock gages are notorious for being iffy.