It more than failed one test it has failed them all.
A fully charged 12v battery produces 12.6V+(12.72V if you want to get picky).
There is an internal resistance in the battery that the alternator has to
overcome to charge the battery. That requires about .2V per cell or 1.2V for
the battery.
So to fully charge a 12V battery you need the alternator to produce 12.72V +
1.2V = 13.92V
If the system voltage is 11V with the car running I would suspect
A) a bad battery. A fully charged battery should not fall into the 11V range
right after start when freshly charged. Have it tested.
B) Assuming the battery is good either the alternator or the wiring is toast.
But test the battery first
Rick
Sent from my iPhone
On Nov 23, 2011, at 17:41, Bob Spidell <bspidell@comcast.net> wrote:
> It's already failed one test--assuming your voltage gauge is correct--the
alternator should be putting out about 13.7V to charge the battery.
>
> At this point, you could pull the alternator and take it to an Autozone,
etc. for testing.
>
> Bob
>
>
> On 11/23/2011 4:54 PM, I Erbs wrote:
>> Hey all, Hope all yanks have a great Thanksgiving no matter were we are
>> in the world.
>> To the rest of you, Have a happy Thursday.
>> My son's 1990 Ford Aerostar van ran the battery flat while parked for the
>> day. He left something on.
>> After the car was started from another car it ran until he turned on the
>> lights after a few minutes of run time. The van quit. He called AAA the
tow
>> truck driver told him he had a bad alternator and we had it towed to my
>> house. I put it on a rapid charge and then started it after the charger
>> showed a full charge. It runs fine and the volatge gauge shows a steady
11+
>> volts. So how to do I test the alternator? It seems to be putting out the
>> correct charge.
>> Thanks all.
>> BTW. Top Gear had the show were they drive a British sports car form back
>> in the day for each of the hosts. A Jensen Healey, a TVR and a front
>> engined Lotus. They then drove to the defunct factory for each of the
>> marques. Fun and sad at the same time.
>> I've been working 7 days a week for a while as my partner has been
injured.
>> So I hope to get back to my beauty before long.
>>
>
>
> --
> *******************************************************************
> Bob Spidell San Jose, CA bspidell@comcast.net
>
> *******************************************************************
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