When I start my truck, it usually takes about 1 minute before the volt meter kicks in. If I try to drive before then, the truck surges. Anyone have anything similar? If so, what could it be and how could it be fixed?

 

Not sure what you are tryen to say bass-n-fire. When the volt meter "kicks in" could be the GP's disengaging. What kinda "surge" are you talking about? I am assuME you are in a cold climate? You have been hanging out a lot recently. Can you put your truck year year, milage, mods, location, etc in a signature? (USER CP button in the upper left in the blue bar and find edit signature on the left). Thanks man!
Cope

 

After my truck is started, it usually takes about 1 minute for the volt meter/ alternator to kick in. The surge is just like losing power. When the truck surges, you can watch the volt meter surge with the truck. Once the truck warms up, no problems with the charging system and truck runs fine. Is there a temp sensor somewhere that could be bad?

My truck is a 97 F350 CC 4X4, 7.3 PS with 180K miles. No mods yet. I really don't know how to explain the surge.

 

Bass-n-fire. I am sorry to drag this out. When you say "kick in", do you mean to bump up? or is it dead on ZER0? Your Glow Plugs (GP's) will stay engaged for up to two minutes. After the GP's disengage your volt meter will bump up some and continue to charge till the batteries charge back up (I believe). The surge, is your oil low or old? Thanks for the signature. Where are you from anyway?

 

there is some degree of surge when the plugs kick on and off, that is normal with the alternator load. but it should be very minimal at most. if you can notice it then it would be very very light, if its enough to be an annoyance then you need to look at possible issues

 

Could be a bad GPR. If it is changing state over and over then that could be your surge.

 

I guess that I really don't know how to describe what is going on. when I start my truck, it seems as though the alternator takes a while to start charging (I guess). If I start to drive before everything is normal, the head lights, dash lights, dim and then get brite, dim then get brite, etc, until the truck warms up. The motor will surge along with the lights dimming. Not exactly sure what the problem is or what the cause is. guess that is what I am trying to figure out.

Cope, sorry I am from texas

 

Ok, let's try this. I just read another post about the GPR. I turned the truck to the "ON" position and let it set for about a minute or so. The volt meter moved up a little and then I started the truck. The volt meter was reading normal then, ie it did not surge. I have noticed that when my truck is started for the first time of the day I have a butt load of white smoke. Is this an indicator of one or more bad glow plugs? Also, is it normal for the glow plugs to take about 2 minutes to warm up? I replaced the glow plugs and valve cover gaskets when I bought the truck in '02.

 

the pcm doesn't allow the alternator to start charging for I think 60 seconds after start, if the battery gets below a certain voltage this is overridden and it tries to charge at max output with the glow plugs cycling on a set of batteries that are cold and have just started the truck it see's it as an overload and cuts the field, and this cycle keeps going until the time the alternator is being controlled normally (after the 60 seconds)
I get the same thing if I use the charge protect on my AIC or rev up the enginebefore the truck has Idled for 1 minute.

 

Yeah, my truck does this, but I did not want to post until I get my other issue fixed.

I start the truck and the volt meter reads in the normal range, but on the very low end of it. After a minute or so it rises to the higher end, around the M in the word 'normal' written on the background.

But, not to hi-jack this thread but I think the problem is related-

When I drive, pressing a little on the gas at about 800 rpm, the enginge sounds like its bogging down. If I give it more gas (i mean diesel) and raise the rpms over 1000 its fine. This only happens on acceleration from stop. If I go WOT this does not happen.

Lastly, I noticed a few days ago, that at idle the lights, interior and exterior, get dim and bright almost like they are flashing at me. While this is happening the Volt meter is bouncing a little bit back and forth until I take off. When the rpms go up and I get up to speed this stops.

What do I do?

 

Its not a Problem, its just the gpr shutting off.
Yes white smoke can be an indicator of some bad gp's.
You can use an ohm-meter to check each one.
I think that are supposed to read out about 1.5 Ohms.
Its been awhile since I did mine. lol.

 

Like everyone has said so far, this is normal. The GP's are cycling for 1-2 minutes and the alternator is not in a charge mode. After the GP's are finished cycling, the alternator charges the batteries and is supplying voltage to the rest of the electrical system. So again neither of you have a problem. Let the truck warm up for 2-3 minutes or until the VOLT meter moves to the high side of the guage before you drive away.

 

There is no connection between the alternator and PCM in a OBS. This connection didn't happen until the sooperdoody.

The reason the voltage is low is simply because the glow plugs pull 160A to 180A, a lot more than the alternator can output so there is still a heavy load on the batteries to make up the difference.

 

Thanks about the Volt meter reading on the low end for the first minute or so, I get that part.

What about the bogging down around 800rpm, even after its warmed up and ready to go.

And, what about he lights dimming down and brightening up at idle, until I accelerate? And the volt meter bouncing a little with the lights dimming?

 

my guess would be weak alternator. once you rev it and get it spinning fast enough then it puts out enough juice