Voltage fluxuations
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 405
Likes: 0
From: northern ca
St. Jude Donor '14
Voltage fluxuations
On start up the other day the DIC flashed "ground fault" at me and on the drive to town I keep a close eye on on the voltage. It did drop as low as 13.8v on a couple of occasions, but usually came back to 14.2/14.4 and is usually rock solid on 14.4 with no fluxuation.
I've done some search of the posts and maybe will get to checking out the grounding studs and connections this week but I am also on the fence as to whether it's the altenator going bad. I checked the DIC and have no codes to post and everything is still working fine. I've taken it on a couple of local trips this week, and the voltage stays 14v+ even with the headlight and AC on.
I'm leaning toward replacing the alternator with a new unit, but not going to get it at the cut rate corperate stores (autozone/kragen). It's going to be pricey but maybe GM dealers or at least a professional automotive supply house.
Any other suggestions? You guys
thx
I've done some search of the posts and maybe will get to checking out the grounding studs and connections this week but I am also on the fence as to whether it's the altenator going bad. I checked the DIC and have no codes to post and everything is still working fine. I've taken it on a couple of local trips this week, and the voltage stays 14v+ even with the headlight and AC on.
I'm leaning toward replacing the alternator with a new unit, but not going to get it at the cut rate corperate stores (autozone/kragen). It's going to be pricey but maybe GM dealers or at least a professional automotive supply house.
Any other suggestions? You guys
thx
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 405
Likes: 0
From: northern ca
St. Jude Donor '14
Ground Fault????? Never heard of that message before. Looked in the manual and don't find that message. Are you certain that was the exact message??
Did you pull the codes??? Or just expect to see something displayed on the DIC automatically?
Repairing problems by the "swap parts" method can get expensive pretty quickly when you don't know what the problem is caused by. Have you had the alternator and battery checked? Many parts places offer that service free. If it were me I would identify what is happening and why before I went and spent money on parts.
Did you pull the codes??? Or just expect to see something displayed on the DIC automatically?
Repairing problems by the "swap parts" method can get expensive pretty quickly when you don't know what the problem is caused by. Have you had the alternator and battery checked? Many parts places offer that service free. If it were me I would identify what is happening and why before I went and spent money on parts.
The "ground fault" message went by very quickly, and didn't stay on the DIC and never showed up again. Maybe I miss read it, sorry. I check for codes the next day and there was nothing either History or Current. A couple of short drives last week and another check of the DIC and still nothing.
I;ll get the battery checked, it's only a few months old (red top) but the voltage is in the normal range and when it was running with the lights and AC on the other night you could see some fluxation in the headlights cast against my garage door. As stated I'll start checking connections hopefully this week.
Drifting
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 1,998
Likes: 33
From: somewhere in New Hampshire
You probably got the "charging system fault" message. I've gotten it a few times over the years and it's never been a problem, I've written it off as an electrical gremlin. I have read on this forum that it can sometimes be caused by releasing the key quickly upon start-up. Of course it is possible that you have a bad ground somewhere, but your voltage readings are similar to mine and I've been driving mine for 6 years without an issue. The voltage does tend to fluctuate depending on what you're running (A/C, lights, etc.) and I've always chalked it up to the alternator compensating for the draw caused by those items. If I'm wrong then maybe I have a bad ground somewhere too!
