Calling Slapshot too

[C5pilot]

I've noticed my voltage dropping to 11.9v while the car is idling, in gear, HVAC fan on, radio on, lights off. If I turn the HVAC off, it creeps back up into the 13's. Car idles at about 550 in gear. When Tony checked, his also went down to 12.0v.

No issues while driving, it stays up in the 13.8v range. Haven't had any trouble with the new battery and I bought a battery tender for the extended down times. Correct me if I'm wrong, but wouldn't 11.9v mean that I'm essentially draining the battery while idling?

[SLAPSHOT]

Joe when at an idle with a/c on and in gear this output is considered normal so as not to put any additional load on the engine,if you have access to gm bulletins look up #02-06-03-008c or I can give you a copy I didn't have to flush your trans and normal time to do flush is around 50k but under severe conditions you could do it at 25 to 30k spence

[C5pilot]

Just to clarify, I get 11.9v without the A/C on, just the fan blowing. No strain on the engine besides having it in gear. I can control the voltage with the fan speed. Max setting will cause a 2 volt drop. I haven't tried it with the lights on yet. It would be interesting to see if it'll go down farther or compensate for additional draw. I'll keep you posted.

[christian]

What you describe is normal for most cars on the road... not just our beloveds.

Chrysler products used to have an ammeter in the dash and so many folk would ask about why the gauge would read "D" (as in discharge) when at a stop light.

GM will likely tell you the same as any other OEM... that the alternator's spec is to provide full voltage/current once the engine reaches 1500rpm.

On older (non halogen equipped) cars, you could notice a difference in headlight brightness when idling at a stop light. With halogens, the difference is not as noticeable.

Again, what you describe is perfectly normal.