Boiling battery
Thread Starter
|
Freshman User
Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 36
Likes: 0
From: santa cruz usa
Boiling battery
One of the features of my truck is that I have to add a liter or so of water to my battery for every two or three tankfulls of gas. One especially disturbing aspect of this is the battery seems to inflate slightly from pressure build up inside. Aside from this everything seems ok with the charging system.
Does anyone have any tips on diagnosing the cause and remedying it?
Thanks in advance,
Karl
Does anyone have any tips on diagnosing the cause and remedying it?
Thanks in advance,
Karl
Thread Starter
|
Freshman User
Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 36
Likes: 0
From: santa cruz usa
Boiling battery
Barry, I will take a closer look in the morning. The regulator is not immediately apparent. I had assumed it was integral in the alternator. My ground wire shows evidence of having gotten quite hot in the past as the insulation is somewhat melted.
I might as well start with the replacing the heat damaged wire and clean the connections before I try to replace the regulator (if I can identify it)
Clearly I need a repair manual. Are any publishers especially good or bad in regards to the usefulness or accuracy of their information?
thanks,
Karl
I might as well start with the replacing the heat damaged wire and clean the connections before I try to replace the regulator (if I can identify it)
Clearly I need a repair manual. Are any publishers especially good or bad in regards to the usefulness or accuracy of their information?
thanks,
Karl
Post Fiend
Joined: Feb 2000
Posts: 5,130
Likes: 8
From: Brea CA
Boiling battery
The regulator is on the radiator support, right by the battery. Yeah if your wiring looks bad go ahead and fix that first.
I use the shop manuals but they are not that helpful with the pickup series. Haynes manuals are good if you can find one for our year trucks. Sorry I can't think of any others offhand, maybe someone else here has found something good.
Barry
I use the shop manuals but they are not that helpful with the pickup series. Haynes manuals are good if you can find one for our year trucks. Sorry I can't think of any others offhand, maybe someone else here has found something good.
Barry
Senior User
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 315
Likes: 0
From: Clayton CA
Boiling battery
Karl,
I'm with Barry. It sounds like your voltage regulator is shot and I would replace it along with the toasted wiring before going any further. The voltage regulator is a 3" square metal box mounted next to the radiator as Barry mentioned. It should have a flat, multi-wire, connector (mine is green) going to it. They're about $10-15 at most autoparts stores. The reason why I'm so emphatic is that I saw upwards of 19 volts on my system (I have a voltmeter) when my regulator went out; that's very hard on the rest of your wiring. Plus, your battery has a chance of exploding which can really mess things up; batteries give off hydrogen gas when they charge (remember the Hindenburg?).
As for manuals, I use a combination of Chilton's, Haynes', and the CD-ROM I purchased from our sponsor. The CD-ROM is pretty good because it tends to at least have pictures of what you're looking for.
Fast Texan
I'm with Barry. It sounds like your voltage regulator is shot and I would replace it along with the toasted wiring before going any further. The voltage regulator is a 3" square metal box mounted next to the radiator as Barry mentioned. It should have a flat, multi-wire, connector (mine is green) going to it. They're about $10-15 at most autoparts stores. The reason why I'm so emphatic is that I saw upwards of 19 volts on my system (I have a voltmeter) when my regulator went out; that's very hard on the rest of your wiring. Plus, your battery has a chance of exploding which can really mess things up; batteries give off hydrogen gas when they charge (remember the Hindenburg?).
As for manuals, I use a combination of Chilton's, Haynes', and the CD-ROM I purchased from our sponsor. The CD-ROM is pretty good because it tends to at least have pictures of what you're looking for.
Fast Texan
Thread Starter
|
Freshman User
Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 36
Likes: 0
From: santa cruz usa
Boiling battery
Thank you Barry and Fast Texan,
I will take a closer look but I am starting to think the previous owner may have put an aftermarket alternator on with an integral voltage regulator. Hopefully this is not the case (the truck is parked a few miles away so I can't run out and check right now).
Thanks for the suggestions on manuals. I have used Haynes manuals for motorcycles, with good results in the past so I will pursue that one.
Thanks, Karl
I will take a closer look but I am starting to think the previous owner may have put an aftermarket alternator on with an integral voltage regulator. Hopefully this is not the case (the truck is parked a few miles away so I can't run out and check right now).
Thanks for the suggestions on manuals. I have used Haynes manuals for motorcycles, with good results in the past so I will pursue that one.
Thanks, Karl
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
