(This was actually originally posted before, but in the wrong forum)

I just got my Jackson Racing supercharger installed in my '95 RS and I have a problem.

After driving it for a couple miles, the battery dies. I can actually see the headlights, clock, dash lights dim darker as I continue to drive, until of course, the car dies.

I brought the battery to Kragen and they said it is fine. We checked the voltage w/ a meter and it reads fine.

We took a reading from the back of the alternator to ground, and it reads 15-16 volts.

We started the car at idle, and removed the negative cable from the battery and the engine died. It was to my understanding that a good alternator would keep the car on even w/o the battery once its started.

My dad thinks that the alternator works fine, but somehow the power being generated is not getting to the battery. We're not car techs, that's why we're not sure, and that's why we're asking for help.

If anyone has any input or a possible solution to why my car dies, please share. Thank you.

 

Make sure you have the grounds connected to the engine. One on the valve cover post and one on the tranny. If they are, make sure there tight. First swap i ever did i forgot to tighten down the tranny ground and it did exactly what yours is doing.

 

Also the old "pull the neg cable from battery test" usually will blow ur voltage regulator. Also check ur voltage regulator, lol. If ur regulator is bad, the voltage ur alternator produces, will never make it to ur battery. Like SlowReaction said, check ur ground cables and make sure they're tight. Look in your under hood fuse/relay box, and make sure ur fuses are good. Depending on ur year anyways.
Hope that helps a bit, and good luck.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Darth_Accord90 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Also the old "pull the neg cable from battery test" usually will blow ur voltage regulator.</TD></TR></TABLE>

How so?

 

ground or voltage reg fuse check under dash fuse 7.5

 

It is not good practice to remove the neg battery cable to test the alternator. While that may have been OK on a '68 Chevy, today's vehicles may complain about it and ask for money. You can test the voltage directly at the battery. At rest (engine off) it should read at least 12.0v. While running, the volts should be higher indicating the alternator is doing it's job (typically 14.5v or so). If not, the harness between the alt and battery may not be making contact, but I think that would light up the "battery" indicator in the cluster.