Quote:
Originally Posted by Lattimer
Not so sure thats true. I have a wire straight from my alternator to the positive post on the battery and nothing else, and the gauge works well for me. Don't know how accurate the gauge is, but it gives me the indication I expect from a working alternator.
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You are probably seeing the discharge before the engine starts and the charge just after the alternator kicks in. the small amount of charge to the right of center would show more voltage on the alternator side or plus charge.
What happens when the truck's running and you turn on the lights and wipers? The gauge should flicker over to discharge and then return to just past center.
It's possible that the alternator feed wire is acting as the shunt and the gauge is able to read a difference between the alternator and battery voltages. The GM engineers calibrated the shunt wire by length, gauge, and resistance to correspond to the battery gauge and I would think that modifying either of those would affect the accuracy of the gauge.
In actuality the gauge has been replace by a voltmeter which is more accurate, gives better information, as well as being a lot easier to wire in and hookup.
My argument is not about how any body wires the battery gauge or whether it works or not. My argument is how the factory did it based on what I've read and seen including how my truck was set up.