Voltage Guage reading

[SnowBuck]

Had the 2005 XL/SLT 3 months now.
Notice the voltage gauge reads about 16ish for the first 50-100 miles highway. It eventually settles to a hair below 14 and stays. After parking, it seems to go up again before settling back down ???
Manual calls this "normal?" ???

 

[Donnie Yukonie]

For a NBS model I do believe this to be normal and To be honest Low voltage is when i would worry not high voltage

 

[Physh1]

Um...never had that happen. Voltage at the battery while the car is running should be somewhere in the mid 14's with no load. My 03 Tahoe gauge has never read over 14 but tests at 14.8 at the battery.

How old is the battery? You could have something acting up. Modules & computers in our modern vehicles aren't designed to run on high voltage like that. I'd at least have it checked out. Test the voltage at the battery...the gauge is more like a dummy light IMHO...

Cameron

 

[SnowBuck]

Just back from the Dealer. They would be worried if it dropped all the way down. They claim that fluctuation is perfectly normal.

 

[ScottL4619]

My 05 does the exact same thing. At startup, it sits above 14 and after running for a while, it drops down below. I don't know if this is true, but I read on here somewhere that the system regulates the voltage and once the battery is fully charged, it drops output. It has been doing it the entire time I have owned it. I changed the battery about 3 years ago and it was the same after as it was before. Never had any issues.

 

[SnowBuck]

Thanx Scott: THIS is what I like about this site - personal experiences to supplement what the dealer/salesman tell me. And here I was about to buy a new battery too.
Only one question I never got a definitive answer = what are the wires going to underside of the hood. One says ground(?) one says for a lite they discontinued in previous years(?).

 

[BRUTUS_T_HOG]

If it has PCM controlled alternator it is normal as it switches from multiple charging modes

 

[SnowBuck]

That 'splains it. Oh, and from the labels on the battery; see that it is 2 years in on a 6 year AC/Delco.
And...the hood wire is indeed just a ground.