More charging ?

[HRDROKN]

I have been just dealing with this problem for some time now.....



My alternator doesn't start charging until I get about 10-15 miles down the highway. My factory voltmeter reads about 9 volts (I realize that this is not what it really is, as I have a good battery) and as I'm heading down the highway it will start bouncing... 9v to 11v... 9v to 12v... 9v to 13v and each time it does it holds a little longer than the last... . until it holds a steady 13v to 14v. If I'm driving around town running erands it doesn't get to a point of charging. Actually had to jump the battery one day with all my starting and stoping. But if I drive at a sustained speed till it starts charging then its fine till the next time?



Any ideas? Maybe it is time to bypass the ECU and go with an external regulator?

 

[BHiggins]

It sounds to me like normal cycling of the pre-heater. Did the problem seem to coincide with a drop in the temperature in your neck of the woods? The heating grid on these trucks can cycle on and off for quite a while until the engine reaches normal operating temperature. Most of our trucks do the same thing upon start up in the cold weather unless they're plugged in (at least mine does).

 

[phillips5]

I agree with BHiggens. If I get hasty in the morning and don,t wait for the wait light to fully cycle they will cycle all day. Check your intake manifold temperture probe plug make sure of a good connection. Also to verify that our assumption is correct pull one of the small wires off each of the manifold heater relays. Then start it and drive around.

 

[HRDROKN]

Makes sense, but it had been doing this all summer also... I would also think the the regulator would compensate (for the most part) whenever there is additional electrical load ie heater, lights etc.



How long does the pre-heater stay on? Is it just a timed cycle until ambient/manifold temp gets above a certain temp like 60F?



I will disconect it and see what happens.....

 

[HRDROKN]

Well..... that's not it. I was thinking though



Does the coolant temperature switch have any input to charging???



It just seems like when i got back to town the voltage started to cycle again as the idiot gauge indicated that the motor was cooling down from my freeway jaunt?

 

[BHiggins]

The voltage regulator can't compensate for the amount of juice needed to to run the intake heater, it uses too many amps. It really does sound like the pre-heater is the culprit, maybe try and disconnect the grid at the manifold and see if the voltage surge goes away. There is a sensor that measures the intake air temperature and lets the pre-heater know when to cycle, maybe yours is bad and is cycling the heater all the time?? I've never had a problem with the sensor on either of my first gens, so maybe one of the other guys can chime in and tell you where to look for it.

I could be totally wrong and it could be something else, but again, from what you described it really does sound like the pre-heater is cycling.

 

[HRDROKN]

Yes, I disconnected the grid/pre-heater on Sunday and the only change that was observed was that the low side voltage was now about 9. 5v instead of 9. 0v.



So the voltage cycled/bounced from 9. 5v to 11v... 9. 5v to 12v... 9. 5v to 13v and still each time it does it holds a little longer than the last... . until it reaches a steady 13v-14v.

 

[dpuckett]

Sounds like the PCM to me. If it was the grid heaters, it'd pull down from 13-14 and drop 2-2. 5volts, then back up, each time, going back to a definite value. Sounds like yours cant decide where it wants to run.



Daniel

 

[HRDROKN]

OK... . I have a couple things to check, but I suspect that my CPS is either not adjusted correctly, bad connection or just faulty.



Can I check the sensor with my multi-meter???

 

[HRDROKN]

Part number.....

Anyone have the part number for the CPS?

 

[MBullwinkel]

Just a newbie but if it helps...

I had similar but not exactly same long standing problem with charging including many battery jumps! Based on advice of TDR, I replaced PCM and it charges now. Don;t know how to point you directly to my thread but last was 11/11/2006 "No charging"- you can see if it applies to you case. There was also something else on TDR about just putting in MOPAR regulator instead of PCM

 

[HRDROKN]

Well, I did somewhat find the problem. I re-adjusted the CPS for . 040 clearance and that didn't help, so I was playing with the connector (in front of the head) and I could see (multi-meter) that something that I was doing was causing it to charge. I cleaned the connector, bent and spread all the male/female pins... that didn't solve it. Then I pulled some tension on the harness and it started charging... let go and it stopped, pulled and it started again! So I'm sure that I have a bad wire, just not exactly sure where at this point. I will pull it out this week and check the wires on the bench. In the mean time I was able to pull the harness over the injection line so that it always has tension... and it is working great! Now maybe I'll throw in some wire ties and duct tape for a more permanent fix! :-laf :-laf :-laf