Update!
What in the world!? Alternator passed the test. Battery was tested and it passed. I checked the voltage on the battery and it was at 12.70V. I reinstalled everything and started the car, the voltage was 12.23 and it kept changing up and down. Then I turned the lights on and AC and it stayed at 12.16V and it went up and down again but never got to the 13-14V that it should be doing. After I turned it off the battery voltage was 12.53V. I'm seriously lost on what I should do or check....

 

Pull accessory fuses, one nightly, till you dont need to charge the battery to start the car.

 

Check voltage coming from alt.. Or while car is off check if voltage keeps dropping unplug alt and see if voltage stops dropping If it does the alt is shorting to ground and pulling power

 

How do I check the voltage on the alternator? I just want to make sure I'm going to be doing it right.

Well this time I checked the voltage while the battery was still hooked up and the alternator was hooked up and it stayed firmly at 12.64 and after I did everything I said in the above post and turn it off, it firmly stayed at 12.53V. It was only varying when the car was running.

Also if it is shorting to the ground how is that fixed? Thanks for all the help guys.

 

You seem to have something pulling current from the battery. Put voltmeter on batt, then pull the fuses one by one, replacing it if it doesn't make much of a difference.

If you see voltage going up after fuse removal, check associated circuit.

Might be a bad relay somewhere.

It's normal to see voltage varying slightly (usually under 1V) with the car running, so don't worry about it. If it caries more than that, there's something wrong.

 

New alternator.. It's the black cover right next to the plug connector put your neg probe to the battery on neg an the red one on the post under the plastic cover it should read same voltage as battery with car off and 13-14 car on

 

Ok cool thanks. I was just about to do the fuse idea and see if it could be one those. Thanks again.

 

Ok the alternator is reading the exact same voltage when it's off and when the car is running. Only bad thing, is that there is definitely a short somewhere. I checked all of the fuses and relays. I checked if the voltage changed with the car off as I pulled fuses nothing changed. It stayed right at 12.42V. When anything like a light was turned on with the car off it would drop too 12.37V. It's something electrical, I really don't want to tear up the tape and look at all of the wiring but I guess that's what I might have to do...

 

No no no unless you have the alt hooked up wrong it's the alt it should be putting out higher voltage than the battery at that post take it back to them and tell them it's not putting out voltage.. It doesn't cost them anything to warranty it for you they are all about customer service.. I think you can do a labor claim..

 

So when it's off it should put out higher voltage than the battery and when it's on it should read higher than the battery also?

When I read the voltage car off it read 12.42V on the battery and alternator, car turned on it was at 12.04V and the alternator at the exact same voltage. Ill just bring it in like you said and I'll have them replace it. What sucks is that it it passed their alternator test 4 times in a row lol.

 

Ok a few things that may help just browesed the previous pages. If the ground to the battery is grounded at another point due to chaffing or a puncture it can cause the battery not to charge from the alternator but still allow the battery to function until drained. Ive seen this before where a ground wire had grounded prior to the battery on a hose clamp from chaffing. Another possible problem you said the radio would die out and some other gauges were affected a possibility would be the body control module. But as some other stated there may be a short I would check all of your wiring off the battery to the alternator. The battery to the starter. Also all ground wires from battery and from alternator. If there is any corrosion or wire decay that could also allow a drain without allowing a charge.

 

Sorry let me clarify same voltage at alt car off... Car on the voltage should go up 13-14 at battery and alt. IF everything is good.. IF you read higher voltage at the alt than the battery with the car on so let's so your reading 13-14 at the alt and 12.5 at the battery there's a open between the battery and alt.. But that's not your case your reading same voltage at both so the alt isn't charging

 

Yeah ok we both misread each others posts lol. So we agree the alternator is not charging the battery, I'll check the wires like xShut said to but from what I CAN see with out pulling off the wire covers they are all fine.

Every times start it, the first thing that messes up is the radio and the antilock light comes on the gauge cluster. That's how I know it's happening again. Then everything else starts to go haywire and it's dead..

 

Are you sure the connector going to the alt. is the correct way and down all the way?

 

Yeah I'm positive it's the correct way, there is only two connections on the alternator and that's pretty hard to mess that up. I'm just not sure what to do. =\ man this sucks lol

I'll keep looking for something that could be causing this