Charging problems
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Charging problems
Yesterday, I hooked up a trailer to my truck with the four-pin connector. I couldn't get my trailer lights to operate. I left the trailer and drove 5 mi. I saw the battery indicator lamp on and also the ABS symbol lit. After shutting down the truck to look under the hood, the truck wouldn't start. Very low battery.
I waited a few minutes and started the truck (barely). I drove another two miles with my lights on and the truck started to miss. I pulled off the highway and parked the truck. It was barely running when idling.
I have since, put another charged battery in the truck. It started and I ran it two miles to a better parking spot.
A meter shows no charging voltage into the battery (12.2V). The battery that ran low was at 11.7V.
Would this necessarily be a bad alternator or possibly a blown fusible link? The alternator has always functioned perfectly and my first battery endured 10 yrs., one month. What diagnostic procedures should I use to confirm that the alternator may be bad? TIA
I waited a few minutes and started the truck (barely). I drove another two miles with my lights on and the truck started to miss. I pulled off the highway and parked the truck. It was barely running when idling.
I have since, put another charged battery in the truck. It started and I ran it two miles to a better parking spot.
A meter shows no charging voltage into the battery (12.2V). The battery that ran low was at 11.7V.
Would this necessarily be a bad alternator or possibly a blown fusible link? The alternator has always functioned perfectly and my first battery endured 10 yrs., one month. What diagnostic procedures should I use to confirm that the alternator may be bad? TIA
More Turbo
Joined: Aug 2015
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With the engine running, you should be able to check the voltage of the main wire coming off the alternator [it should be the largest diameter one if there is more than one]. If the alternator is working, it should be about 13.5V or so.
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Thanks guys. This morning I went and rescued the truck. I put a charged battery in it and drove it home. All indicator lamps are now off. Measuring voltage across the battery terminals with engine running----12.29V-> 12.40V. It looks like I am in for a new alternator. Strange that it went out so suddenly and that it was coincident with messing with trailer lights. I did have the truck's headlights on with engine off while fooling with the trailer.
Can someone point me to the location of any fusible links in the charging circuit? They are usually sort of hidden under a layer of shrink wrap or other so are hard to locate.
Can someone point me to the location of any fusible links in the charging circuit? They are usually sort of hidden under a layer of shrink wrap or other so are hard to locate.
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FWIW, I don't know if this is typical of Ford dealer Parts Dept. but I had a bit of difficulty at the dealer. I identified the Motorcraft part number of the alternator and had a discussion with an experienced rebuilder that further identified the alternator as a 115 amp alternator. At the dealership, even with my VIN number, they were adamant that I needed a 110 amp alternator. When I showed the counter man how to identify the higher amp model and that it was the original alternator, he did some hunting and found that the Motorcraft number crossed to a Ford part, a 115 amp model. After the identifying issue, he quoted me a price $70 higher than the street price and $100 more than Fordparts.com website. I took my business elsewhere where they matched the website price for the identical Motorcraft alternator.
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