Battery wont charge HELP!

[NoImports]

Problem:
Battery will not charge by alternator, and will not hold a charge.

Possible causes:
In my mind i think that the wireing circuit could be screwed up or bad between the alt. batt. and comp.

Alternator ios original and could very well be crap.

Batteries could be bad.

What ive already tried:
Slow charging two different batteries in which case i got the same results. Able to charge, but no charge maintained.

Tried revving engine to see if i could see the volts going up on gauge in car. No luck, they jsut remain low around 12-13v.

So most people would say just change the altornator. However if i can avoid it i would like to. Alternators are expensive, and surprisingly kind of difficult in this car (Turbo II Daytona). When the car is running and driving, lights on, w/e it can maintain enough of a charge to stay on... wierd.

[tryingbe]

Take both battery and alternator to Autozone and have them tested... FOR FREE.

[91shelby]

Sounds like Alt to me, should be around 14V-high 13V charging. Could be both though to if the alt went though, it could've killed the battery too, thats what happend to mine.

[charger R/T]

Ok no guessing here. Does the battery go dead while unhooked from the car? If so it is bad. If it dies only while hooked up and engine not running you probibly have a draw bringing it down. A bad battery can pull the charging system down to a level that you think it is not charging right. I would take the battery to a parts store that will test it for free. Don't let them test it while dead it will always show bad. It must be charged first. Lets get the battery issue fixed first then move onto the charging system or possible draw. When you get the battery issue fixed post what voltage is at the battery with it running. No guessing or a range. Put a volt meter on and post the number. Your in Wis so the cold should make the computer charge it a bit higher then in warm weather.
Tim

[turbo-tease]

I had this same problem once & it turned out to be a break in the wiring from alt. & harness wiring to the battery, wiring had a burned out spot in wiring that was not visible to the eye,it was broken on the inside. It would work one minute then not the next, this was because of the wiring flexing.

[overboostperformance]

^+1 what codes is it throwing ?


Norm