I just noticed today that my voltmeter on the dash is shooting up to 19 intermittently causing my check gagues light to pop on. When I turn the car off and then back on, it goes back to 14 and will sometimes after a few minutes shoot all the way back up. Does anyone have any idea what this could be? Is it something to be concerned about? I don't want my battery blowing up on me. Jeep seems to be running fine otherwise. Thanks for any ideas

 

Only way to really know is to check it yourself or a mechanic. If you have a multimeter, you can read it off the battery. Should stay between 14 and 14.5 under normal load, less if heavy load. If above 14.5, voltage regulator (component inside alternator) is probably starting to fail and that will cause some damage to your electrical system.

 

Just take your truck to an advance auto parts or an autozone and have them test it, it's free. More then likely it's shot. don't drive it like that to much. you can do some serious damage to the electrical system with the high voltage. I'd bet the alternator is shot.

 

Verify actual voltage at an auto parts place like Advance or AZ (they'll do it for free like previously mentioned) -- if all is clear, wiring to gauge may be bad.