voltage problem?

toplessLx · 09-28-2009, 10:00 AM

im not sure if its a problem or just something annoying im gonna have to deal with. My voltage meter reads in the normal range but almost every electronic thing i do cause it to drop. and not just a little. if i turn my blower all the way on my headlights on bright and my stereo on id better not signal or roll down a window cause its gonna put the meter almost all the way down. also, when its idling with no drain on the battery ie electronics, it idles pretty smooth at about 500-600 rpm. but when the cooling fan kicks on it bogs down the engine. it'll start idleing rough and drop to 400-500 rpms. but when the fan cuts off it dont idle back up. any suggestions? oh its a 92 lx 2.3

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dreamer1uk · 09-29-2009, 08:24 PM

Hi,

Everytime you turn on an electrical component, you are creating an extra electrical load for the charging system to deal with. If every single accessory is on, the vehicle will also use some of the battery voltage to help with the demand.

First of all, check your belts

You can also do a quick self test of the charging system if you have a DVOM or a Volt Meter. When the vehicle is running, hook up the DVOM to the battery and look at the voltage. The voltahe should be between 13.5 and 15.5 volts. If the voltage is too low/high, you may have a faulty voltage regulator on the alternator, or a bad connection from the PCM to the Alternator (if its too low as the alternator isnt energizing)

If you dont have a DVOM or a volt meter, most autoparts stores will do free alternator and battery testing.

If your alternator and battery both test out good, you may have some excessive resitance in the charging system wiring (bad grounds, corroded wiring ect). You can do voltage drop tests to find those symptoms out.

As for your engine idle in general, it sounds rather low. You may want to reset your idle (theres write ups and links on these forums to do that) as well as cleaning out your IACV.

When was the last time you did a good tune up?

toplessLx · 09-30-2009, 09:54 AM

my last tune up was just a few miles ago. i thought about the iacv. how do u clean it? advance had done an analysis i forgot to mention and all things were normal

dreamer1uk · 10-01-2009, 01:19 PM

Hi,

To remove the IACV, its only held on by a few bolts. Just use some throttle body cleaner to help remove the carbon deposits.

I woud highly recomend reseting your Idle though. That may cure some of your problems.

Also, when was the last tiem the O2 sensor was changed? You can test these with a DVOM an see how quick there switching. O2 sensors tend to become lazy after 50k miles.

toplessLx · 10-07-2009, 09:16 AM

honestly i havent had the car long so i have no idea. but i will check them and reset my idle then get back with u