The other night I went to my studio to unload some gear. When I came back to start my 87 GL Wagon It wouldnt start, just click click. I assumed it was the starter since I had just put a new battery in. Anyhow I checked conections etc

and rolled the car backwards out of the drive way and compression started it.

After several minutes of running it started up no problem. Here is when I noticed the gauge said it was charging at about 14 volts which is great, BUT when I turn on the turn signal the gauge was bouncing up and down about 2 - 3 volts. Is this an indicator that the alternator is on its last legs and is not keeping up with my stereo etc......It was at night when this all happened and was cranking the stereo up. Any ideas??? thanks, jon

I'd say the alternator is shot. They tend to do stuff like that when you bump your stereo too loud. My boyfriend had that problem in his 88 XT a while ago. We were going to buy a new alternator because we already knew his wasn't keeping up with his stereo. Well, luckily he had a warranty so we got it for free. The next morning he came out and the battery was completely dead. So then we went and exchanged his battery (warranty on that too ). Tested the alternator and it was charging the battery when running like it was supposed to. Came out next day and again the battery was dead (the new one). He finally had to go back to Schucks and tell him that the alternator that he had gotten a couple of days before was draining the battery when the car wasn't running (he tested it before going). Luckily that problem is fixed now and hopefully the 3 farad capacitor will help the alternator and battery both last longer . Now it just needs a tune up and it will be perfect.

you have two separate problems

 

1. the volt guage going up and down is "normal" there is an insufficient wire that feeds the ignition circuit that goes bad over time

 

2. have the alternator tested

if you acquire a replacement alternator, have it tested, even if it is new or rebuilt

i know a guy with an XT6, he pulled his alternator apart and found an old and poor looking solder connection inside the alternator. he cleaned it up and resoldered it and this fixed his electrical issues...similar to yours i believe but i don't recall the specifics. you can look it up at the Yahoo XT6 group site...his name is Wayne, he may have even posted pictures in the pictures section (he has some great fixes in there, very resourceful fellow) it was just this summer that he did this. .....i forget all the terminology because i just get mine rebuilt...but he said the bad solder was causing the voltage regulator to dump inconsistent current back to the alternator creating voltage spikes and terrible output from his alternator. again, forgive me if my explanation or semantics aren't 100 percent, i've never opened one of these things up. but the solder connection was his only problem.

 

other than that, make sure all battery and alternator connections are solid, clean and tight. even if the alternator is shot, make sure these connections are golden so your next battery and alternator are problem free.

I'm having the same problem with the voltage bouncing... it seems to jump around from 14 to 16 and all the lights and everything pulsate with it... I figure it's probably the voltage regulator in the alternator going out... *shrug* mine doesn't do it all the time, but it's quite often... haven't had any problems with it draining my battery...

 

 

 

 

The other night I went to my studio to unload some gear. When I came back to start my 87 GL Wagon It wouldnt start, just click click. I assumed it was the starter since I had just put a new battery in. Anyhow I checked conections etc

and rolled the car backwards out of the drive way and compression started it.

After several minutes of running it started up no problem. Here is when I noticed the gauge said it was charging at about 14 volts which is great, BUT when I turn on the turn signal the gauge was bouncing up and down about 2 - 3 volts. Is this an indicator that the alternator is on its last legs and is not keeping up with my stereo etc......It was at night when this all happened and was cranking the stereo up. Any ideas??? thanks, jon