'92 E350 with a 7.3 IDI. Voltage regulator problems?
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'92 E350 with a 7.3 IDI. Voltage regulator problems?
Hey guys, I am back with yet another electrical problem that has once again stumped me in my 30 year old truck.
I recently took my van on a cross country road trip that last 6 days, I went from Pennsylvania to Oregon, and put about 3200 miles on the clock during the trip. To say the least, I've been driving it a lot.
When I got closer to home (OR) I noticed that my voltage reading was very low. Normally, I see the needle on the "R" of "N O R M A L" on the gauge. This time I looked at the gauge and it was between the "N and the O", as if it were telling me "not today". I decided that I needed to drive it home immediately from Nevada because I didn't know if it would start again after stopping it. I was correct, and when I got it home after 6 straight hours of non stop driving, the battery was so dead the next day that it wouldn't start, it also wouldn't even give me a reading of the batteries voltage at all this time. I was angry because I just replaced the batteries last year. How could they already be dead? I charged them overnight, placed them back into the van, and was able to start it. Great. But the reading was still low. I decided to have the batteries and the alternator tested by Kia (who sold me the batteries). It turns out my batteries and my alternator are just fine. Okay, onto the next problem. I thought I might have a bad ground, but I didn’t think it was likely because I tested the batteries after leaving them inside the truck all night with a multimeter. Each battery read 11.97 volts, which should be enough to get it started. Still no start. I spent all day cleaning the terminals and the connections they make to the chassis to rule out a bad ground. After cleaning them up and hitting them with dielectric grease, I put the batteries back into the truck, started it just fine, still got a low reading, drove it for 15 minutes to try to charge them with the alternator, and still didn't see the voltage reading budge from the "N" at all. Could this be a sign that my voltage regulator is toast? How do I test it? I do not think that there is a bad ground because I cleaned the grounds and there is no heat coming from the wiring at all.
TL;DR: My gauge is reading low voltage on my batteries, despite them being fine. The alternator and the chassis grounds are not the problem either, but my lights aren’t dimming and my gauges seem to be reading accurately. Could this be my voltage regulator?
I recently took my van on a cross country road trip that last 6 days, I went from Pennsylvania to Oregon, and put about 3200 miles on the clock during the trip. To say the least, I've been driving it a lot.
When I got closer to home (OR) I noticed that my voltage reading was very low. Normally, I see the needle on the "R" of "N O R M A L" on the gauge. This time I looked at the gauge and it was between the "N and the O", as if it were telling me "not today". I decided that I needed to drive it home immediately from Nevada because I didn't know if it would start again after stopping it. I was correct, and when I got it home after 6 straight hours of non stop driving, the battery was so dead the next day that it wouldn't start, it also wouldn't even give me a reading of the batteries voltage at all this time. I was angry because I just replaced the batteries last year. How could they already be dead? I charged them overnight, placed them back into the van, and was able to start it. Great. But the reading was still low. I decided to have the batteries and the alternator tested by Kia (who sold me the batteries). It turns out my batteries and my alternator are just fine. Okay, onto the next problem. I thought I might have a bad ground, but I didn’t think it was likely because I tested the batteries after leaving them inside the truck all night with a multimeter. Each battery read 11.97 volts, which should be enough to get it started. Still no start. I spent all day cleaning the terminals and the connections they make to the chassis to rule out a bad ground. After cleaning them up and hitting them with dielectric grease, I put the batteries back into the truck, started it just fine, still got a low reading, drove it for 15 minutes to try to charge them with the alternator, and still didn't see the voltage reading budge from the "N" at all. Could this be a sign that my voltage regulator is toast? How do I test it? I do not think that there is a bad ground because I cleaned the grounds and there is no heat coming from the wiring at all.
TL;DR: My gauge is reading low voltage on my batteries, despite them being fine. The alternator and the chassis grounds are not the problem either, but my lights aren’t dimming and my gauges seem to be reading accurately. Could this be my voltage regulator?
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UPDATE:
Not sure if this was a bone head mistake or not but apparently after having the alternator tested (at a local kia dealer
) it passed. I decided to take the alternator out to test the voltage regulator and it turns out the alternator was as dead as a door nail... replaced it and the problem is solved. Always get a second opinion but trust yours first, I supposed.
Not sure if this was a bone head mistake or not but apparently after having the alternator tested (at a local kia dealer
) it passed. I decided to take the alternator out to test the voltage regulator and it turns out the alternator was as dead as a door nail... replaced it and the problem is solved. Always get a second opinion but trust yours first, I supposed.
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