Hey everyone! Sorry it has been a while. I have a possible situation and I am hoping I am wrong but I need some feedback please. Thank you in advance to everyone that responds to my thread. Ok so I am on my third HHR. What can I say, I love these cars. This one is a recent purchase from North Carolina. It is in Immaculate condition. It is a 2006 2 LT version with the beautiful leather seats that are heated. I have always wanted one in Silver and I finally found one that is in great shape. As you may know, if you know these cars well, these cars do not come equipped with a voltmeter. So that means that you cannot tell how many volts your charging system is putting out unless you hook up your own. So I went on eBay and bought a digital voltmeter that plugs into the cigarette lighter. Because I bought this device, I am now seeing what the charging system is doing when the car is running. I kind of wish I never bought this device because now I am worried that the numbers may not be good or correct. So this is the situation: The car has a new battery in it. I looked at the sticker on the battery, and it was made September of 2019. That would put the battery at 4 month old. The car starts up great and does not sound weak at all. When I'm driving it during the day without the headlights on, I noticed that the battery voltage is dropping to around 12.5 volts. This only happens during the day. At night when I drive the car, with the headlights on, I am getting 13.9 to 14.3 volts. So my question is: Is that normal for my HHR we putting out 12.5 volts during the daytime while I am driving it? The car never sounds weak when I start it. I have no warning lights on my dashboard and I have no battery light on my dashboard either. The car seems to be operating completely normal, I just don't like seeing that 12.5 volts when I am driving it during daytime hours. Am I over-worrying the subject? Any help would be so nice, thank you:)

 

When the car is running you are seeing alternator output not battery voltage. Throw the gadget away.

 

Hey Don! Thank you so much for replying. You have helped me before. I'm glad you are still out there. So what is the difference between alternator and battery output? Just curious.

 

Battery output is around 12.8 volts engine off.
Alternator output is around 14.3 volts engine running.
and X2 but don’t throw the device away, put it in your tool box for use as a diagnostic tool.

 

The digital voltage regulator provides the voltage needed at any given time. I'm not sure what the minimum is, let's say 12.4 to 14.3, it fluctuates.

Sometimes too much information is a bad thing.

 

Thank you Blue for responding and thank you again Don. You both are Awesome and it is nice to know you are out there still helping people. I agree with you both, I am going to get rid of that instrument I bought and just enjoy the car. Cheers!

 

This is normal condition.
It might vary, but not by much.
The values that are posted are not gospel.

 

Thank you for letting me know. I am leaning to believe that my car is fine:]