Battery Light
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Battery Light
I have a 99 Dolphin MH on an F53 Chassis with the V10 eng. Driving down the road yesterday the battery light illuminated for approximately 15 seconds on 2 different occasions. These 2 occasions were about 15 minutes apart. The last time it illuminated was about 1 1/2 hours before we arrived home. It did not come on again during that time. I checked the battery with my v/ometer and it was fine. I then disconnected the battery cables to check the alternator output. Seemed to be ok also. Called Ford and they said that since I had disconnected the battery cables the codes were cleared so they could not help. They also said to drive it again and if the light came on, bring it in for a code check before disconnecting the battery. Any thoughts or recommendations?
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Joined: Jan 2002
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I think your Ford Tech is full of hooey... I don't know of any "code" for alternator regulator ( perhaps some other OBD-I "system" might report "low voltage input" but I highly doubt the Tech knows to look for that)
I would first make sure all the cables are not corroded and all the grounds are solid to BARE metal
If all that seems good to go then I would suspect a diode in the bridge rectifier was failed and the output was not enough to carry the loads during certain conditions (like the AC cycling on and off)
If you are multimeter savvy you can test your self
You are looking for 12.7 to 13.6 VDC at idle and 14.2 to 14.8 VDC at 2000 RPM----if your reading are lower thew rectifier is shot and if they are higher it is OK as long as the high RPM reading does not exceed 15 VDC
same test BUT AC this time--- YOU should have no more then 0.2 to 0.4 VAC at any RPM... More means a diode in the rectifier is shorted
I highly recommend getting a LOCAL alternator re-builder to take a look and let him sell you a LOCAL rebuild if his test too much AC on the DC line (diode crapped out)
The LOCAL re-builders ALL use a much better then normal bridge rectifier board that is MUCH heavier duty and your 95 AMP alt will be able to produce the higher loads when needed
I would first make sure all the cables are not corroded and all the grounds are solid to BARE metal
If all that seems good to go then I would suspect a diode in the bridge rectifier was failed and the output was not enough to carry the loads during certain conditions (like the AC cycling on and off)
If you are multimeter savvy you can test your self
You are looking for 12.7 to 13.6 VDC at idle and 14.2 to 14.8 VDC at 2000 RPM----if your reading are lower thew rectifier is shot and if they are higher it is OK as long as the high RPM reading does not exceed 15 VDC
same test BUT AC this time--- YOU should have no more then 0.2 to 0.4 VAC at any RPM... More means a diode in the rectifier is shorted
I highly recommend getting a LOCAL alternator re-builder to take a look and let him sell you a LOCAL rebuild if his test too much AC on the DC line (diode crapped out)
The LOCAL re-builders ALL use a much better then normal bridge rectifier board that is MUCH heavier duty and your 95 AMP alt will be able to produce the higher loads when needed
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