Originally Posted by
bulletpruf
Fellas -
My 2003 Ex has had a few slow starts after it's been sitting for a while. Just turns over kind of slow and then cranks up. I live in Northern VA, so it's been getting colder lately.
Normally, I would think the batteries are going bad, but they are both 5 month old Motorcraft 100 month batteries with 850 cca. They also tested fine with a 500 amp load test. Resting voltage on both is right at 12V.
However, when I start up the truck, the voltage at both batteries is either 11.4V or 12.2V. Shouldn't this be higher? 13V or 14V? The alternator is a remanufactured unit that's I installed about a year ago.
About to take a long trip with it and don't want the alternator to crap out on me. Had that happen before and it's no fun. Guess I could carry a spare and swap on the road if I have to, but that's far from the preferred solution.
Any thoughts?
Thanks,
Scott
When the engine is up and running, you should see over 13 VDC at the battery. However, cables and terminals in good condition are essentials and poor connections will certainly make for poor start-up and charging. To remove your concern about the alternator, why not run down to Advance or comparable and have em put a tester on it?
Carrying a spare alternator might be a bit extreme, in my opinion.
Steve