Alternator Output - 1996 960 3Ltr

I mentioned in a recent thread about charging the battery on my 960 - and whether or not it is essential to disconnect the battery. Well, things have moved on a bit (I've been playing safe and disconnecting the battery during charging) and I've identified that my battery does seem to be losing charge. One area I'm wondering about is the effectiveness of the charging circuit. With the engine still running at the end of a longish (35 mile) run, I connected a multimeter across the battery terminals and with the engine held at 2000rpm it gave a reading of 13.75v. With all the lights, fan blower, heated rear screen and seat heaters running, this dropped to 13.45v. These values seem slightly low to me - the equivalent figures for my wife's little SEAT are 14.3v and 13.9v respectively. According to my Volvo data book my system is operating right at the lower end of the specified range. Has anyone any knowledge/experience of the 960 charging circuit - does my car have a problem, or am I being neurotic? Thanks, Stan.

It does seem a touch low 13.8v - 14.2 is the normal volvo specification . Slightly lower when all hot and slightly higher first thing on a frosty morning .. I might have a "new" 1995 960 alternator in the attic which i bought in 1996 for another project but didnt use if anyone needs one ...

Hi Clan, Thanks for the reply. I'm getting my charging circuit checked out next Tuesday - if it turns out that the alternator is failing I'll be in touch . . . Happy New Year . . . Stan.

Hope its ok , Happy New year!