Dead battery - Is the alternator bad?

[Ian c]

Sounds like the regulator and or alternator is going .
It should read steady with a small load on it like lights on .
Everything else turned off , and don't forget the hvac controls ...

The drain check is with everything off to take an amp reading of what you lose from the battery with the car turned off . (Ie: parked over night)

[3point2]

I left the car running for 15 minutes and with the headlights on. Voltage got to as low as 13.48V. Then I turned off the car and the battery is at 12.5V which is slightly higher than earlier i checked.

Ehh electrical gremlins are the worst.

[Ian c]

Them figures are t the end of the world .
It dropped but still was high enough to produce a charge for the battery .

Did you get a meter with dc amps ?

[3point2]

Here's a pic of my meter.



Shall I start removing the firewall cover and get started on removing the alternator? Lol

[Ian c]

I can't see properly as I'm in the car on my cell , but it looks like dCA ?
If it is , that is dc amps . Perfect.

Disconnect the ground as described earlier and take a reading .
Make notes and remove fuses one at a time and note what it goes down to .

I forgot to add earlier . Your meter co. e toons must be good .. If using probe pins scrape first and if using clips lamp them on the. Use the grips to clean the surface .

I will be home in an hour so will call back on here but hopeful someone else will rey a out your drain readings if you're having trouble

[3point2]

It's DCA on the left side of the meter.

So I removed the negative cable from the battery.

What setting do I use on thE meter? 200milliamps?

Then with the car off I take a reading at the battery and pull one fuse at a time in the drivers side footwell?

Do I replace the fuse after each reading?

[Ian c]

Yeah
That's exactly how to do it .
One at a time and replace after noting the reading .
You should be reading around 20-25 milliamps so if you have a smaller range on your meter it will be fine .
The idea is to find how many mAs your car drains with all doors shut and locked (simulating a parked scenario)
And if it is high enough to flatten your battery you pull one fuse at a time to find out which circuit has a fault causing excessive drain