battery light
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Junior User
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 62
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From: Fredericksburg, Va
battery light
I have the battery light on, the guage seems to stay in its normal position, well untill I turn on my A/C, then it will drop about 1/6 of an inch. I have also noticed that the little windows on my batteries where you check to see if they are green, red, or I guess orange. Well both batteries are orange in the window. The guage only seems to vary when I turn on my A/C. LIghts it stays the same, The guage is reading normal unless the A/C is on and the Battery light stays on, I have held the rpm to 2000 and the light still stays on, and guage stays normal. Checked the glow plug controler and it seems not too be too hot, not to say that it may be the problem but it would show on the guage because it will show when you first start up the truck in the morning before the battery light started comming on. There is a wire that is BLK with a orange strip comming off of the alt that stays very hot, and has been that way since i bought the truck in 2001. I have tried to give as much info aspossiable, Any help will be great, i am about 600 miles from my home. Thank you. truck is a 2001 PSD crew 4x4
Fleet Owner
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 25,090
Likes: 1,112
From: Rio Rico, AZ.
Most likely the alternator has failed, tripping the light. You can verify it by getting a voltage reading at the battery. It should be at least 13.7 14 is perfect and anything above 14.5 is too high. There is no way that you can get back home on batteries alone. You'll have to get it fixed where you are at.
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Junior User
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 62
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From: Fredericksburg, Va
that is what i was thinking, so it seems that the alt is bad, is it possiable to be any thing else, and does anyone have a price on a new alt. thank you so much for your help.
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Junior User
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 62
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From: Fredericksburg, Va
battery light
I am in Charleston,SC I will be able to fix it, as long as it is only my alt. I would like to have a easier fix, I am going to check the alt out put tomorrow, I am not sure if i can unhook both batteries while the engine is running, but I will check the voltage while they are hooked up, and if it is down, Iwill unhook one and see, sometimes a bad battery will make it seem like a bad alt, but unlikely being that both bateries windows are showing low voltage. Thank all of you for help, if any one else has another idea other than the alt please let me know. thank you very much.
Senior User
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 374
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From: Ridgecrest, CA
I agree with kwik, change out the alternator, sounds like one of the bridge diodes is bad. You might be able to "rebuild" yours, check with Napa et.al. If you replace your alternator, have them test the old one to see if the machine thinks it's still good. I had them test one of mine and I ended up replacing various other parts. Then I replaced the "good bench tested" alternator and it fixed the problem.
Logistics Pro
Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 4,821
Likes: 19
From: South Dakota
Before you go and rip out the alt. take your truck down to the local Autozone/Advance/etc. They will often check it out for free and you won't need to pull the alt. either.
If you can, try to get your batteries charged up before you go so that you don't stall in traffic.
If you can, try to get your batteries charged up before you go so that you don't stall in traffic.
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Junior User
Joined: Feb 2003
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From: Fredericksburg, Va
Well I started out this morning thinking I was going to spend between 200 and 300 for a new alt, started the truck and it fixed its self. I know that is even worse than being broken. Started the truck, the batteries showed by the guage were week but they started the truck, not battery light, i turned on the A/C and the guage did not fluxuate, so I do believe that there may be a intermitten problem with the alt like i have been told, possiable the brushes. I am going to monitor the problem, and see what happens. Thank you all for the help, this has got to be one of the best sites on the www. Great people and great info, thanks again.
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Senior User
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 358
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From: Florida
My 99 has a similar problem but its not my batteries or alternator. There are 2 smaller wires going into the alternator (regulator). One is a ground wire for the battery light. If that wire is grounded out anywhere the alt light will come on. My wire is not bad but something in my regulator is grounding out that prong causing my light to come on. I know my alternator is fine so I just run with the battery light on.
If you want to check wait until your alternator light is on and unplug the small connector on the alternator. IF you light goes out then you know your regulator is ground out. Normally its supposed to if the alternator is bad but some ground out all the time. Make sure your alternator is good by bringing it somewhere to check the voltage and amps its putting out.
If you want to check wait until your alternator light is on and unplug the small connector on the alternator. IF you light goes out then you know your regulator is ground out. Normally its supposed to if the alternator is bad but some ground out all the time. Make sure your alternator is good by bringing it somewhere to check the voltage and amps its putting out.
Senior User
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 374
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From: Ridgecrest, CA
I forgot to mention the first test that should be performed. To make sure that the belt is good, try turning the alternator pulley by hand. If you can turn it (which means that the belt is not gripping the pulley, I've had this happen one time), the belt needs to be replaced. It had the same indications as you described. The alternator is a heavy load, so the belt needs to be good for it. Especially if there's not a lot of contact area between the belt and pulley.