Hey Guys,
I have a 2005 F350. On a long road trip it, on the last hour or two of the trip, it felt like the truck was losing power too. Coincidentally, the Alt. was not putting out the power it should. I am guessing the two are connected. I was pulling a 30FT trailer

The alt was a locally rebuilt unit. Stator was changed to a 180 AMP. The regulator was new. It worked for 8 months, then on Sunday started to give me issues. I have a Livewire tuner and I monitor the FICM ignition, logic power and main internal injector voltage. When the power was dropping off, the Internal voltage was dropping to 46, but not lower. It normally stays at 47-47.5.

The Ignition and logic power were down to 12.5, where they normally stay at 13.5.

I replaced the Alt with a new one I kept as a backup and the truck runs great now, no power loss. I took the old one to the shop that rebuilt it(1 Year warranty) and he said it was working fine BUT that the voltage regulator could have gone bad and that these trucks are known for cooking the regulator.

My question is is there any long term damage from have low voltage for the final hour of the trip?

Is there a more beefier regulator for these Alt that don't burn out? How long can I expect it to last? Still will monitor all the same info.

Since I am pulling a big-*** trailer, and I am on the stock trans cooling system(radiator), Is it recommended to upgrade to an external Trans cooler and if so, which one?

My cooling system was never going above 208 degrees under load and oil temp was 220-221 for the most part under load. I tried not to exceed 70 MPH, just because of the size of the trailer. I know this is not huge to most, but I am normally not bigger than 18FT trailer.

Thanks for any input guys, I am so happy it is running better because I have no other options other than this truck. I can't see buying a new one @ $70K. I will keep this old girl running with some PMCS

 

Low voltage would be a problem over a longer period of time, it sounds like you addressed the problem early. Some of us have changed to a different brand, I have DC Power from Ed at FICM Repair. The radiator is fine, if it gets Hot the fan will kick in and scare the daylights out of you.

 

So you got an Alt from Ed at FICM Repair? If so, how much was it? If I have any issue with my FICM, it will go to Ed.

So if I am towing over 10,000lbs, you would not recommend going to an external Trans cooler?

 

Thanks for the support! We have alternator options from $295 all the way up to $950 or so - it all depends on what you need! Give us a shout and we can get you going!!

Thanks for the referral, Maxium!

 

Ground is also a big issue with our trucks, check out this thread, Improving battery cables for battery life.



Ed seems to carry quite a few items...

 

I bought the XP270 from him. The price is listed on his site, it costs what it costs, it's better than a third dead Ford alternator.

I did Ed's cable kit and I'm getting parts to add Jack's ground upgrade at some point:
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...tery-life.html
EDIT: I thought John linked to Ed's cables:
http://www.ficmrepair.com/index.cfm/...prod/prd59.htm

I was under the impression every 5R110W already has an external OTA cooler.

 

Bryan,

If you got Ed's cable setup lately it does now include a cable to go from the drivers frame neg connection to the engine block from my understanding so you don't have to buy anything.

 

I ordered mine in June of 2015, it only included a 1/0 from the alternator case to the passenger fender wall. I edited to link to his cable's into my first post above.

I PM'd with FICMrepair in OCtober of 2015 about them adding that wire, but never heard anything and nothing showed up on their website. I really just need to order the cables you sized, every time I sit down to pull the parts list together from that thread I get distracted.

EDIT: Ok scratch all that, I see it in the interconnect kit now. The pic just isn't updated. So Ed has it, but I'm not going to order it because I already have the big 4/0 wire. Thank you for pointing out he sells it now though, good to know.

 

Then just pick up the cable online from one of the sites oftened mentioned, as they are very reasonable for marine grade cable.