Re: Two questions

tonita wrote:
> It will take a little time to get those answers.  I gave the car to my sister in another state and her son has the car in another location. She's had it for over a year and only got to drive it a very short period of time due to this issue.  I did replace the battery a couple of years before this happened.  It started when the power steering belt broke not soon after I replaced THAT.  She was told it was the alternator and replaced that and was able to drive it for about a month (just errand driving) and it quit again.  Got another alternator and it happened again. I will try to get those answers though.
> What are you thinking here?
> 
> 
>> What was the voltage at the battery terminals at about 1000 rpm with the
>> new alternator?
>> What is the voltage at the terminals when the car is turned off?
>> What is the amp drain when the car is off?

Car Lead-Lead acid batteries are considered fully charged around 13.2 
volts.  The charging circuit should supply at least 13.2.  14.4 would be 
even better.  Put your volt meter across the terminals with car off.
If charged is should read at least 12v to 13.2v.  Less than 12v means 
something is wrong... bad battery or bad charging circuit.
Start the car, turn off all accessories, run at 1000 rpm and the reading 
should be around 14.2 plus/minus 0.2v.
Next, disconnect the negative terminal, car off, doors shut, etc.
Measure the amp draw between the neg battery terminal and the neg wire.
It should be less than about 0.7 amps.  Anything much over that and it 
could mean trunk light on, key not turning fully off, etc.