I recently have been having battery problems. Brand new battery, would drain over night or while driving and would have to be jumped to start. The speedo would also be going crazy, and it seems like it never fully charges and stays charged. I replaced the voltage regulator and it seemed to help, drove it all day no problem, i could leave it sitting and it would start right back up. But now, it died again and im pretty stuck. None of the lights are on in the car when parked, and still even when i jumped it to start it doesn't seem to be fully charging. Could it be the alternator? Or maybe my belts are too loose?

 

Check the charging system. With a multi meter with the engine running, place the leads on the battery posts and see what the charge rate is, should be around 14V.

 

WIth the engine running its at around 12.8V. So it seems like a drain of some sort or not keeping charge.

 

If 12.8 - your alternator is not charging - either a bad alternator, slipping belts, slipping crank pulley, bad ground, bad connection, etc.

 

Should i clean the grounds on the alternator? There is also a little bit of play in my belts should i just try tightening those to make sure?

 

Tighten the belts for starters. Measure it again. You can clean the grounds but I doubt that's the problem. Most likely the alternator is shot, you can try changing the voltage regulator.

 

I did change the voltage regulator, and the old one was pretty jacked up. It seemed to help for the first day but the problem came back. Ill try tightening the belts and cleaning the grounds and let you know how that works.

 

There should be a ground strap between the alternator case and engine block. Check that there is continuity between alternator case and engine block.

 

My belt tensioner bolt was bent and cracked into 2 when i took it off...i went to auto zone and got a random tensioner and lucked out. I put more tension on the belt aswell as cleaned up the grounds and it ran a lot smoother. Im now up to 14 volts while running and it hasnt died since, fingers crossed. I hope it was the belts slipping and it seems to be, but we will see in the upcoming days.

 

Charging Circuit: