ok, so when I put on my head lights, rear defroster, and turn on the blower motor in my hatch the volt gauge goes to 12, whats wrong? or is the normal. and when I turn my turn signals on it goes up and down(the volt gauge) now if I just have the head lights and either the rear defrost or the blower motor on it's not on 12 but still lower than normal.

Mine does the same. In the Brat, the voltmeter never shows anything above 12 unless ive been driving for a while. With my blinkers on, the needle will bounce up and down alot. I believe it might be my battery. Ive put 2 alternators in and it hasnt changed.

 

-Brian

sorry, I was editing. if I don't have all three on its fine. it reads about 14 or so. hmmm my battery thats real old, do ya'll think that would help any?

:eh: Check for blown or missing bulbs, or disconnected wires. I thought they were just reflectors in front!

12 is normal for just about any car with a bunch of accessories on

i just went through that with my hatch.. although mine was a loose ground where the neg. cable bolts to teh front of the engine...

 

after fixin that i can turn everything on that there is to turn on, even the flashers, and the guage never sees anything below 13

What you are seeing is the voltage drop caused in the wiring between the battery and the voltmeter. Unless you have a problem like MM mentioned. You could check and clean your battery and ground connections to see if that will help make the reading better. Also check and clean the fuselink connections.

 

If that doesn't work then you could try beefing up the wire that feeds between the battery and the fuse panel. This will cut the voltage drop losses down.

 

As long as you are aware of what is really happening with the electrical system it's not a big deal. You just need to remember that the battery voltage is really 1 or 2 volts higher than the gauge is indicating when you have a good load on the system.