Alternator?

[Shortymac83]

How do you test if an alternator is working proplerly if you don't have a voltage meter on the car? Can you hook up a battery tester to the battery and look for a voltage jump from it not running to running?

[bobc455]

A $25 voltmeter from radio shack (and I bet other cheaper ones are available) will show you- should be about 12.6v when the car is off, anywhere between 13.2 and 14.3 when the engine is running.

If you don't already own a voltmeter, I bet your buddy has one you can borrow for a minute.

Actually you should be able to tell just by looking at the headlights - the should be slightly (but noticably) brighter when the engine is running.

-Bob Cunningham
bobc@gnttype.org