Bad alternator?
Thread Starter
|
Junior User
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 50
Likes: 0
From: New Jersey
Bad alternator?
I was driving my truck today and I noticed that the voltmeter guage was creeping into the red above 18v when I was going at like 40 to 50 mph. It would go into the red a little and the batt idiot light would come on, then go off. At idle there are no problems. I have experioence with alternators going bad in the past and they would stop charging or the bearnings would go, but I haven't seen this before, is the alt going bad or is it something else?
Senior User
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 132
Likes: 0
From: South Bend
The voltage regulator is probably going bad. Since the light came on it's doubtful that the gauge and the light are bad, but not unheard of. Some voltage regulators can be changed seperate from the alternator, but I'm not sure of your year.
Posting Guru
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 2,195
Likes: 1
From: San Antonio, Texas
When the reg. goes, the alt. charges wide open. You should'nt drive it like that, cause it is hard on your battery and it's putting too much amps through the rectifier. I would recomend you either get it rebuilt or if you really want to go cheap, you can get a reman. Just don't drive it like that too much or youll be investing in a new battery.
New User
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 10
Likes: 0
break out your volt meter.
with the engine running and no added current load, (lights, fan, radio, etc), measure voltage across the battery terminals, if it reads above 13.5 or 14.0 suspect athe voltage reg. if below 11.5 or 12 volts suspect the alternator.
Thread Starter
|
Junior User
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 50
Likes: 0
From: New Jersey
Thanks for all the responeses, I will check across the batt with a voltmeter and see what I get. The Bronco is my second truck I drive when I feel like it, my daily driver is a 95 Grand Am, so I will not be driving the truck until it is fixed. Of course thatnks to the cold weather I have another new problem with it. Se my thread on frozen antifreeze
