Truck has been sitting for three days after coming off of a 3K trip towing 5th wheel. Washed top of engine with Simple Green & garden hose three times, looks great, even a 115# German Sheperd would feel good.

Went to start it and just got solenoid clicking. Not good. Don't think that it is related to the engine wash. Battery check indicates 9 Volts. Hook up a 2 amp charger and start pulling the posts, cleaning and replacing corroded bolts, etc.(2 Hr later)

Truck now starts but in dash Volt meter indicates less than 8 volts. At this same time I still have a hand held volt meter hooked to the battery cables and it is indicationg 10V.

Get out and wiggle wires at and around Alt and shortly after the wire wiggle session the truck starts charging. This sudden change in charging may start on it's own aft I have walked away from the engine compartment.
It's appears to be just screwing with me.

I have pulled the wire connecter at the Alt and applied Dielectric grease. This does not appear to change things.

I bought this truck in June and both Batterys appear to be new & same brand, The Alt was replaced with a remanufactered the day I bought the truck. (light had come on exiting driveway)

When the dash guage starts to show a charge then my volt meter indicates 14Volts. The Alt Light has not yet come on.

There is a heavy Battery lead that comes off of the lower, rear of the Alt.

If the Alt was bad would I get a "Shorted" voltage reading if I disconnect that line and hooked the volt meter between that wire and the Alt?
(the same way that you would do with a Bat. cable and the bat. terminal).

Anyone with any ideas??
Roger

 

Your belt and pulleys were wet. Maybe? If it's Ok now I would'nt worry about it.

 

Hi Jim:
Well, it was nearing 100 Degrees by 10AM just outside of Sacramento so everything dried out quickly by 1300 hrs. I have found that it will start charging on it's own after about 45-60 seconds after starting. I took it for a drive and everything appeared normal so....your right, at this point I'll just have to wait and see. Tomorrow will be interesting to see if I have a dead battery again.
Thanks for your input.
Roger

 

dead battery i dont know, but the no charge after a wash is normal. happens after you ford a 5 foot deep river too, any time the alt gets wet she wont charge till the internals dry out, usually no more than 1 - 2 minutes, no worries

 

Hi Joe:
Well it's working as of this PM. I am confident that I never got water on or in the Alt. As for the dead Bat. Strange. I connected a volt meter between the pass. Bat. and the cable and did not detect a drain. The same for the other Bat.

I'll just have to wait til' AM and see if "Big Red" starts or farts.
Roger

 

how long after did it start charging? may of been the gpr cycling off.

 

Not sure of the answer. After I screwed with it and it started charging again I took it for a drive. Later I parked it and came back in a couple of hours and it appeared that all was well.

It started charging as soon as it started. Just waiting for AM and will start again (I hope) and see what's in store for me then.

Thanks for your comments though.
Roger

 

I'll throw in a second for the glow plugs. You can unhook the small wires on the GPR and see if it works better. Probably just routine operation but you only noticed because the alternator get wet or you had a loose wire.

 

OK.....here it is Sunday AM, Truck started right up, Indash volt meter barley registering but does try to rise with increase of RPM.

Me thinks that I very possibly have an Alternater problem. If by chance there is a problem with the GPR....

#1) would that in its self discharge the battery?
(yesterday's problem) and.....

#2) What effect would the GPR have on the charging system?

#3) Can an ALT get into a "Work don't Work" mode?

#4) I'm still having a hard time associating this with the engine wash, I was very carefull not to wet the Alt or other surrounding componants w/water.

Mmmmmm velly, velly strange

Roger

 

The guage won't come up very far untill the glow plugs shut off...


Depending on EOT , up to two minutes....

 

this time of year i'd say the gauge should pop up to normal after about 10 seconds

 

These Diesel's have way too many Acronyms, I need a schematic of the engine and compartment with little arrows revealing the locations of all these little dudes.

Ok, I got that off my chest....Just where is this GPR located? If it's on the drivers side of the engine it probably got wet as hell as that was the area I was concentrating on as I was concerned re a possible oil leak in the area of valve cover and valley.

Thanks for all and any additional input, it is sincerely appreciated. Based on your descriptions and how this GPR works it's starting to sound more & more like the GPR my well be the culprit.
Roger

 

This....Is from TJ's motor....(notice how clean it is?)

 

it looks simple green clean....lol

 

You are the MAN!! that is exactly what I was looking for: "Photo for Dummies"
Went to my truck, pulled off the cover and viola, there that little sucker was with it's cute little black cover cap on top. I'll have to wait until I have some help to acertain if it "clicks" when the Ign. is turned on. Then I'll do the other tests as well.

Can this GPR, when in a malfuntion mode drai a Battery as well?

Thanks again Action4478, you have lived up to your name, "Action"

Roger