I think either my battery or my alternator is bad, but I can't determine which, and would appreciate some input. Here are the tings I've done/measured:
- No voltage drop between alternator and battery, or along wires leading to and from alternator and battery
- Voltage at rest across battery terminals, after having left the car alone for a while: 12.00 V
- Voltage across battery terminals while idling : 9.54 V
- Voltage across battery terminals while at 2-3K rpms : 9.68 V
- at higher rpms, there is a scratchy whirring sound coming from the alternator
Now all this would make me think that the alternator is bad...BUT:
- the car never stalls out - keeps on running
- both the alternator and battery are relatively recent (relatively)
- Weirdest thing: the voltage at one point shot up from 9 V to close to 12...but it only did this once
Anyways, I would really appreciate any help!
Thanks
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