97 jeep wragler sport 6cyl battery good and holds charge, changed starter, drove about a mile and battery gauge shot up to 19 volts, went back down to normal then shot back up to 19, what do you think is wrong?

sounds like a regulator malfunction to me..need to connect a battery/alternator tester to the system and see if the regulator is bad.. this will cause full charge of the alternator to enter the system.. this uses the battery as a regulator and will cause overheating of wires and relays..if the alternator can be removed and tested separately(most can), do this and see if this is the case..replace if bad..good luck..

You have a possible issue with the voltage regualtor inside of your alternator.
You can drive to Autozone & have them test for under voltage & overvoltage condition, appears to be a voltage regulator failing.

Let me know how it turns out for ya!
Good luck to ya....

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Sounds like a bad alternator. Drained your battery and when you turned on the lights it took all the power left in your battery. When you drain a battery down that far, they are real hard to jump, and coupled with the alternator, the car is not producing enough current to start and stay running.

I would take the alternator off and take it to oyur local auto parts store to be tested. If bad, replace it and charge the battery fully before starting. Then check voltage at battery with motor running. Should be 13.2 -14 Volts DC. If not, you may have a bad battery cable or blown fusible link. (especially that if the alternator tests good).....Mike

HAVE THE ALTERNOTATOR CHECKED TO SEE IF ITS PUTTING OUT ENOUGH VOLTAGE SHOULD BE OVER 14 DC NOTHING 12 V. OR UNDER DC VOLTS

It takes very little voltage and amperage to operate dash gauges. You cannot rely on "seems" when it comes to the battery. A good battery should have standing voltage of at least 12v and be able to "snap back" from a fifteen second 200 amp load. Under load, the voltage should not drop lower than 9.5 volts. Have the battery charged and load tested before going anywhere else with this. then make sure connections are clean and tight. After you get it started, if battery was good, check starter draw and charging system operation. If it does not start, check power flow from key through neutral safety switch and starter relay to starter.

The problem sounds intermittent, if you put volt meter on the battery while it is at that 19volt mark/reading(on the gauge cluster) you will be able to see if it is true. If your alternator is really charging over 16volts the lights should be getting brighter then usual and/or they are burning out. Find out ASAP, if the alternator has a defective voltage regulator, it needs to be replaced. Prolong use will damage components.

The diode in the altenator is starting to go out.
I would check the belt to make sure correct tension and check the battery . The battery could be starting to go out , The battery might not be able to hold a charge anymore .

Have you checked the battery cable connections? If so, check the negative battery cable from the battery to the body and from the battery to the engine for breaks or if they are loose. If good, check the positive wire going to the starter, there is also an inline fuse in the pos. cable to the starter that might have blown. But, my guess is that the battery cables are loose. Hope that this helped, good luck. Let me know how it went. I'll be here if you still need me.
Bryon

have no solution but exact same problem on a 97 Grand am.... i'll be watching if there are any good solutions!!!!!!!!!!

check the battery cable connections, are they clean and tight? This can cause the charging system to spike and go into the 16-17 volt range, the other thing is a problem with either the alternator or the voltage regulator, a diode that is failing can cause this issue.