all of a suddened my voltage gauge went down 1 and i checked every fuse and i put the meter right on the alternator it read 14.1 same as the gauge

any ideas what may of happened?

is my alt bad

nothing is wrong from just the available info i have.have someone rev your engine to 2-3krpm and measure it. it should be close to 15v if aftermarket alt metered at alternator

the thing is one week ago it was at 15 or 14.7 at idle and now it lost around .7 to 1 and its around 13.9 i have no idea why?

let it sit for a good 8hrs or so overnight and start it up in the morning.if it still reads that low, might have lost some tension in the belt somehow.. that or it's outputting a lot of current because the batt(s) are low.

I don't see a problem, most cars run around the 14 volt range. If your gauge says 14 volts, you're fine.

edit- just saw you gave more info. Has it always been at 15 volts before? As I said, most cars run at 14 so having it at 15 is actually the unusual part. Was that 15 measured right upon startup in cold weather?

it would be 15.4 at start them go down to 14.7 to 15

it would be 15.4 at start them go down to 14.7 to 15

Weather affects voltage, the colder it is the higher your vehicle voltage will be until engine parts start running and warming up the vehicle (thats why batteries have higher CA- Cranking Amps than CCA- ColdCranking Amps).

I know that but mine went down .5 to .7 with the same weather and conditions

What kind/size of alt do you have? Big 3 I assume? What kind of batts?

it would be 15.4 at start them go down to 14.7 to 15

Weather affects voltage, the colder it is the higher your vehicle voltage will be until engine parts start running and warming up the vehicle (thats why batteries have higher CCA-Cold Cranking Amps than CA-Cranking Amps).

While the termperature may effect the voltage, CCAs are ALWAYS lower than CAs. Only Short Circuit or Burst ratings are higher than CA.

The colder the temperature, the less a battery can disperse at one time.

it would be 15.4 at start them go down to 14.7 to 15

Weather affects voltage, the colder it is the higher your vehicle voltage will be until engine parts start running and warming up the vehicle (thats why batteries have higher CCA-Cold Cranking Amps than CA-Cranking Amps).

While the termperature may effect the voltage, CCAs are ALWAYS lower than CAs. Only Short Circuit or Burst ratings are higher than CA.

The colder the temperature, the less a battery can disperse at one time.

Your right, had it reversed (edited and fixed), I actually went and looked at my battery before posting and still switched it up on the way back to the computer.