Reply to "Amp meter bounce"

one more thing with a volt meter and the car off check the voltage at the battery terminals (about 12.2 VDC.. mine is when I don't slow charge the battery by the time I get home to play with my toys), then with the volt meter still hooked up watch the voltage drop when you hit the key to crank the car ( volt drop should not go below 9.5 to 10 volts depending on the speed of the meter you use. A fully charged battery should not drop more than 1 volt from 12.5 VDC to 11.5) and start it.

Then with the car running the two schools of thought are 13.7 -14.5 VDC if the battery is fully charged

or

The one I use is 1 volt over the at rest voltage of the battery which should come up to the 13.7-14.5 volts after it is driven for a while to bring the battery up to charge. I do a before and after I get back meter check if I have driven the car for a couple of hours.

PS if the voltage drop is large and the battery is good add a second ground strap from the trans to the frame in the back it helped mine.