Just a quick question about the altenator. In the morning, cold or hot, my battery needle stops at about 1/3 for a minute or so, and then goes to normal. When this happens the headlights and the interior lights brighten up. I was wondering if this is normal on a diesel (glowplugs) or if maybe my altenator is going bad. Thanks for reading this and take care...Mike

 

its normal. its the alternator starting to work. they dont work for the first 40 seconds or so.

 

Actually the alternator starts working right away, the load on the system from the glow plugs (they stay on for a bit after the WAIT TO START light goes out) drops the voltage until they turn off. It is normal.

Dave / Believer45

 

Thanks guys, just wanted to make sure...take care, Mike

 

ditto what beliver45 said ... it's just the glow plugs loading the system down at start up.

 

thats what i thought but have been corrected several times.

dont care either way. as long as it is far left for cold start, middle left a little after startup and a little right after a minute or so its working right.