The Mitsubishi Pajero Owners Club®

[FourD56]

Hello, I have a strange situation that I could do with some help on.

I recently put new battery on my Pajero because it appeared let the other one was dead. With the new battery fitted I'm noticing that the battery is not getting the usual, approximately 14.5 volts pushed at it right from starting.
Am I right in saying that after the engine has started the glow plugs stay on for a while until the engine reaches a certain temperature? As I'm driving I can hear a relay click when the glow plugs go off, correct?
Well if that is the case, then the alternator sometimes doesn't start pushing charge at the battery until the glow plugs have gone off, the two events seem to coincide, but not always. This morning I noticed the voltmeter go up to 14 much quicker but not right from starting the engine. Also when the battery is showing roughly 14 and a half volts, shouldn't that voltage stay kind of steady? What I'm sometimes seeing, on a meter,  is it the voltage will fluctuate between 14.1 and 14.5 a different voltage is between those two.
Obviously, if I'm just doing a short Journey, sometimes it hasn't even been long enough for the alternator to start pushing voltage of the battery, and the battery is becoming more and more depleted.
Any clues? Many thanks

[Google]

[Mark3]

The heater plugs do stay on for maybe a few mins and as they draw up to 80 amps they put quite a strain on the charging system so what your seeing is completely normal  

[FourD56]

Okay, but should I not be saying over 14 volts across the battery terminals right from starting the engine? Tonight I drove it for at least five minutes before the volt meter in the car moved from 12 to 14