Hello all. I have a 1996 Dodge Ram 1500 4x4, automatic with a 5.9 engine. The other night I was driving across town and the GEN light came on, I noticed the voltage gauge had dropped down from 14 to 12 and maybe a little under. I had the lights on and the heater going but not full blast. So today I went with my multimeter and tested across the battery (positive lead to positive and ground lead to ground on the battery) Once with it running and once without and once more with accessories turned on (lights,heater, fog lights). The first test I got a little over 12.54 v with the truck not running. So I started it up and I get 14.24v is what it stabilized at. Now with the truck running everything on I could turn on inside-headlights,dome light,wipers on full, heater on full blast, fog lights I had a reading anywhere from 12.34 to 11.70 and when the voltage drops down into the 11's you hear a little whine noise for a second then it stops and jumps back into the 12's. Okay so anyone know if I have something to worry about or what I should be checking/replacing? Any help would be appreciated. And thanks for reading.

 

Check all your battery connections. Clean and make sure they are tight. Sounds like your alternator is on the way out though.