Hello everyone, I got a problem with my 2006 350z voltage dropping after about 3-5 minutes of idling. It all started with a stock alternator, I noticed while driving that the stock alternator would not keep producing the average charging voltage while driving or at idle. I do have a lot of electronics in the car, so I purchased a high output alternator from a company in California (I forget the name) they sent it out to me with an overdrive pulley installed, I install the high output alternator and upgraded all wiring to 0 gauge, also threw in a 300A breaker in between the alternator and the yellow top optima.

Once I started the Z everything seemed fine, then about 3-5 minutes later the voltage at the gauge in the car starts to slowly drop from 14v to about 13.5 then about a minute later its at 13.0 then drops to about 12.5. It stays about 12.5 until I press the gas and bring the idle up, then it returns to about 14v. A few seconds later it is dropping back down again about 12.5v-13v. So I pull the alternator off and send it back to have it tested, they tell me the alternator was working fine and produced what it was supposed to. They ended up refunding me the money I spent on the alternator. I swapped that alternator out for a 220A fitzall alternator from powerbastards.com. I ordered the one located on their website for the 350z, it is a one wire set up and also came with an overdrive pulley already installed. I install the fitzall, start the car and sure enough the same thing happens, there is no difference.I am able to drive the car just fine, it will start up without a problem but as soon as I come to a stop light and sit the voltage on the gauge starts to drop again.

It took some time but I went trough and disconnected every aftermarket electronic in the vehicle to see if something that was installed could be the problem but no luck. I have checked the belt to see if it could be slipping, it was not. I even installed a digital volt gauge right at the terminal of the battery just to have a second opinion on what the voltage was, it reads the same as the one in the car.

If anyone on here has had a problem like this before or knows of something else I can check, please let me know.

Thanks in advance!

 

How are your grounds?

Sounds like a bad connection somewhere. Go over every wire and every connection you touched while upgrading to 0 gauge.

 

I checked all wiring and they seem to be tight, I don't understand at all

 

The only thing I can think of would be to test for voltage drops at each junction.

 

Ok, thank you for your help...I will let you know how it goes

 

electrical gremlins


I hate electrical gremlins! Please post back with your findings...

 

Updates? Sub'd.... Good luck

 

If you have a lot of different bolton modifications, you may want to start your voltage checks in those areas first (higher likelihood).

What are your current modifications?

 

Maybe you have a short somewhere? Double check ALL the grounds and then check the positive wires to ground to see if it's shorted anywhere.

Maybe a voltage regulator? But I'm not sure if these have one built into the alternator or not.