[eagle]

Number 1, you have a problem. What you describe is NOT normal for a stock A. Do you have a good quality voltmeter? If not, go buy one. You'll need it sooner or later anyway. Check the voltage on the battery terminals. A. Before you start the car. B. When cranking. C. When car is running at a fast idle. Then one more test, check at the starter lug in all of these same times. Get back to us with the readings and we can give you an educated diagnosis. Otherwise all your going to get is a bunch of wild worthless guesses.

Fyi: unless you spend some serious money on a really good DVOM, an analog meter is better because of the noisy electrical system in an A. A simpson 260 is kind of a gold standard analog VOM. You can get them on ebay for around $50 to $100. They ARE worth it.

Fyi 2: switch to 12v if you want, there are some advantages but FIRST fix the issue thats causing the problem. It will still be there on 12v, but may be somewhat masked. It will then raise its ugly head at the most inconvenient time, like when you're on a trip somewhere a 100 miles from home, on a backroad when you stopped to take a leak, and you have no cell reception, and a bear is eyeing you up... you get the point!