99 Gs 300 Charging Issues

[DUMPDGS300]

Hi

I have a GS 300 which after installing a decent stereo seems to not be charging at the correct voltage.

The stereo souns fine ie. not distorted or anything like that but if i put my interior lights or high beam on when the volume is up the lights dim to the beat of the subs.

Someone looked at the alternator and said it was only charging at 13.2Volts. Which he thought was a little low. The battery was new when i bought the car about 6 months ago.

We checked the voltage at the amp with the volume up and when there was a big bit of bass the voltage would drop just a little.

I priced a new alternator and it was around the $1500 mark trade price so i would like to find out if there is another solution before i spend that sort of $$$.

Any info would be appreciated.

[TRD_GS300]

Hi

I have a GS 300 which after installing a decent stereo seems to not be charging at the correct voltage.

The stereo souns fine ie. not distorted or anything like that but if i put my interior lights or high beam on when the volume is up the lights dim to the beat of the subs.

Someone looked at the alternator and said it was only charging at 13.2Volts. Which he thought was a little low. The battery was new when i bought the car about 6 months ago.

We checked the voltage at the amp with the volume up and when there was a big bit of bass the voltage would drop just a little.

I priced a new alternator and it was around the $1500 mark trade price so i would like to find out if there is another solution before i spend that sort of $$$.

Any info would be appreciated.

This could sound VERY STUPID, try using a different meter, the same situation happened to me last week, and it turned out 2 out of 3 meters we had were reading wrong!!!

But if its really the alternator, have you tried getting a price to get it reco'ed.

Also, have u made sure u earthed your system up properly? Any other electrical components u recently did... because it sounds like u have a bad earth somewhere. Hope this helps.

[DUMPDGS300]

Hi

Yes i have made sure the that the system is earthed properly its bolted straight to the body with one of the bolts holding the back of the rear seats on and there isno paint there at all.

I also added another earth strap from the battery to the engine and then to the chassis and im still having the same issue. i didnt really think about getting it reco'ed that might be the next step.

Thanks

[TRD_GS300]

Hi

Yes i have made sure the that the system is earthed properly its bolted straight to the body with one of the bolts holding the back of the rear seats on and there isno paint there at all.

I also added another earth strap from the battery to the engine and then to the chassis and im still having the same issue. i didnt really think about getting it reco'ed that might be the next step.

Thanks

Could also be a stuffed battery??? It would be easier and cheaper to try another battery if you haven't already done so. Just a thought...

[Nik]

Hi

Yes i have made sure the that the system is earthed properly its bolted straight to the body with one of the bolts holding the back of the rear seats on and there isno paint there at all.

I also added another earth strap from the battery to the engine and then to the chassis and im still having the same issue. i didnt really think about getting it reco'ed that might be the next step.

Thanks

Could also be a stuffed battery??? It would be easier and cheaper to try another battery if you haven't already done so. Just a thought...

If you intend to change batteries, go for a heavy duty battery. I use the Optima sealed batteries and they are color rated and yellow is the way to go. That is what they use in taxis to cater for all the extra electricals they are running as well as being used in heavily fitted out cars running serious audio. They are not cheap but worth it in my opinion. Not much change from $500 though.