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I have had the charging light flickering intermittently for a few days. Checking with the DVOM I was seeing a charging of about 13.2. Decided to just replace the alternator so I don't have that worry while on the road trip.
When I took the old alt off, the charging wire was brittle and burnt looking. I was in the parking lot of NAPA because it's 35 miles from home and I wanted to get the core back to them before hitting the road. I installed the new alt and it's not charging at all. Battery voltage is 12.5, but when running it's only 12.1. That's taking the reading right off the charging post of the alternator. The odd thing is the charge light isn't coming on when it's running with no charge coming from the alternator. I looked through the owners manual for fuse locations and don't see anything relating to charging.
Pretty sure it's just not getting the signal to work and I'm missing something simple.
The wiring on these truck is getting old and brittle. It might be time for an alternator pigtail. You can backprobe the pigtail and see if the alternator is getting the voltages it needs.
This is the upper alternator on my rig. I think the wire colors are the same for the single alternators, but not positive.
Never mind. I think in all my pre-trip confusion I’m over expecting something to be wrong so I’m sub-consciously creating problems.
I went out to check voltage in the signal wires and the plug on the alternator was not snapped in place. I even checked it a couple times and didn’t notice it wasn’t plugged all the way in.
Clicked it in and charging is right where it should be. I did take the time to cut the charging wire back a few inches and put a new terminal on it.
Prepare as much as you can, but don't obsess with what could happen. In all of our travels towing the 5th wheel cross country we have had everything from a boot blowing off to cracking a rim to steering gear literally exploding.
Most times though the adventure is great and memorable.
