i have a few Q's about my alternator. The problem: I've had a loping idle since i bought the car in feb. It almost sounds like a misfire, but not as consistent. It is much more prevalent when the car is cold, but still there once the car warms up.

Anyway tonight i discovered it goes away when i turn on the headlights? I drove back to work, and sat there with the headlights on. well when i turned them off the lope got my attention. turned them on, it stopped, turned them off, its back. So i got out the multimeter and checked the voltage at the battery. it ranged from 14.0 to 17.6, it was not consistent at all. Also the jumps in voltage weren't consisitent with the lope. well i then checked the voltage at the alt. and i had a constant 13.9.

why would the voltage not be consisitent at the battery? I turned all the accesories off when i checked, i've also done all the preventitive maintenance, with the exception of timing.

so can any one out there shed some light on this, because i'm stumped.

 

ttt