Engine/Transmission (1998.5 - 2002) Some alternator info.

[hpyman123]

Have had a bug in my mod boxes for a couple of months now. I have a TST PM3 stacked with an Edge EZ, trucks runs great with it. Problem I've had is a stutter when the box starts to fuel. Have redone all of my connections, done everything I knew to do. Finally called Mark at TST and he suggested I check my alternator as they had seen an issue with a diode going bad and putting AC current back thru the MAP sensor circuit. That means the box sees no boost so it doesn't know what to do. Alt. will still charge but causes issues. Low and behold I checked it and then changed it. It's like having a new truck. Everything about the performance is better. Smoother operation, better charging and mods perform as intended. So I would assume that if your truck has some electrical gremlins you can't figure out check the alternator. Mine had 180K on it so I'm not upset at changing it.

 

[SRay]

Hpyman123: Hmmm I'm starting to wonder if that happened to my buddy's 2001. Does your truck drive fine normally like unplugging the tst? My buddy's dodge is running fine with the adrenaline unplugged.



shawn

 

[hpyman123]

Truck drove fine with the TST turned off. Just didn't make the boost it normally does. When I turned the TST back on the higher I raised it the worse the stutter got. I have to think even with the TST off it wasn't as good as it should be. I still can't believe that a new alternator can make the difference it did in the way it runs now.

 

[SRay]

That's the same thing my buddy's 2002 is doing. I told him to check the alternator as the truck will have close to 300,000 kms on it, roughly about the same as your 180,000 miles. Hopefully that fixes his problem as replacing the alternator is cheaper than buying another box.



Thanks for figuring this out with TST.



I'll keep you posted on my friend's progress.



Shawn

 

[bristoy]

i have an 01 i bought 7 years ago. within the first year the batt's. went bad, the altenator over worked recharging them. couldn't tell looking at the gauge but after years of burning up my injection pump computor & all kinds of other elect. componets i ran a digital volt meter in the truck for 2 weeks hooked up to the injection pump power wire. found out when i stepped on the throttle the voltage would drop from 12 to about 9,when i let off the voltage would spike to over 19. without the meter i couldn't tell anything was wrong because the truck gauge never showed a spike. it cost me thousands in repairs over the years because the batteries went bad. so it's very important to make sure the charging systems on or vp44 trucks are working well. any doubt about the altenator have it tested atthe least or replace it. believe me it's much cheeper to do that than the pump. i hope sharing this will help to keep someone else from learning the hard way as i did.

 

[SRay]

bristoy: the voltage gauge is not accurate or doesn't read spikes in power?