Fellas,
First time driving at night andwhen i pulledover to get gas the batteries were dead, when i went to start it did the rrr rrr rrr and then stopped. Let it sit for awhile and nothing. Got a jump from a nice buddy here and it started right up, got home ok and all was well then thought well i should try to restart right? nope, it is dead again, now i know that when gas engines dont have a good alternator they will die when the battery runs out. will a diesel die or just keep going till you shut it off? What could be the problem? i am thinking wiring issues with lights, short, ground etc. Alternator is another possibility as the batteries are not kept at charge, i will go out with the multimeter tomorrow and check it out to see if she is getting the 14V or so when running. Oh and just read my signature again!!! LMFAO!!!

 

Oh, they can die alright, it just takes a little longer because the fuel solenoid doesn't take up as much power as an ignition or EFI system.

Sounds like an alternator or regulator to me.

 

Something to look at is that that F150 cab came with a alternator with a built in regelator and the diesel has the external regulator so there has been some custom wiring done.

 

mine did that the day i bought it.i had the dealership fix it and evidently there is a regulator or something behind the dash that can go bad.whether there is truth behind it i dont know.but its something you may check into.ill look at my diagrams tomorrow.

 

What was the voltagee gauge saying while you were driving it?

 

Wel well my signature never lies, i jumped it this morning and it started and ran normally but i noticed that the volt meter was reading a bit higher and as i sat and checked it over it got higer and higher. I grabbed the multimeter and checked the batteries, both were at 12.56 and climbing, 5 mins later and it is at 14.4. I didnt do anything so i came to a couple conclusions,

1) it could be a ground/short in the wiring.

2) it sould be a ground/short in the wiring. hahaha.

I just need to find it and i think it is in the lighting system since that was the first time i rode at night. Also could be the heater fan or similar since we had the defroster on to give a bit of warmth.

George _ last night is was reading below normal so around 10v or less i guess.

star _ i am pretty sure the alternator came from the engine and not the truck, i think! haha

David _ I was hoping you would say that about the dying issue, it would make more sense that way. As for an alternator issue, it is working fine today and to my knowledge when the alternator goes.....it is gone.


So Fellas, i am going to do a lot of wire checking to find this damn thing. I need to get some people together for a wiring party and re-wire the whole thing!!!

Thanks

 

you should try the headlight mod i just did.that might fix it if you think it has something to do with headlight wiring

 

Loose grounds would be my guess. Might also want to pull all the connectors to the alternator and external regulator (if equipped) to look for any signs of corrosion.

 

Also the conector on the alternator that branches over from the regulator might be loose causing speradic charging.

As said go over all grounds