adambomb777

Hey guys just a quick thought on this incident would be appreciated. Driving down the road the other day and the "Gen" light comes on in the dash, at the exact same time I also notice low power from engine and no turbo boost above 10 psi, so I drive it the rest of the way home and park it. The batteries go dead very quick. I was just guessing it was the alternator, so I pulled it off and took it to town to get a new one. Wanted to get it tested before I bought a new one, but all the local parts houses had broke machines. I live thirty miles from town so I bought a new alternator anyway. Charge the batteries and put the new alternator on and start it up. I continue to start it every 6 hours or so for a day and a half(not driving it at all). Everything seems fine so I drive it to work the next morning and it still has no power, but no "gen" light. I almost get to work and the "Gen" light comes on again and drains the batteries after I park it. Charge the batteries again(Also have them load tested), put them in at work just to drive it home. I still have no power, but the "gen" light doesn't come on again. So I'm inspecting the truck the next day looking for a fix for the lack of power. I glance at the intake heater wires and where they connect to the intake heater element, the rubber boots that go over them are melted on both post. So I look at the wires coming from battery to relays, one of the positive boots on one relay is melted. The second time it shorted it must have made a better connection or something, because "gen" light has stayed off. I'll check the relays when I get time. So this has to be what was causing the electrical short, right? Any ideas on what caused this and what new parts I should buy to fix this? I dont want to replace parts and have it happen again. Also any ideas on the lack of power occuring at the same time as the "gen" light. It's been a few days and still no power.

infidel

Everything you ever wanted to know about the grid heaters here> http://dodgeram.org/tech/dsl/trouble...niford_htr.htm

If the relay(s) are bad they can be replaced with Ford starter solenoids, about $10 at any autoparts. They must be the type with a nongrounded case or you will have to install them with the case isolated from ground.

adambomb777

Thanks, I am going to buy one of the ford starter solenoids. I found out I have one bad relay. Any idea on what could have caused the loss of power? Would anything electrical cause loss of power?

infidel

No, unless the the grids pulled such a load that it bogged down your alternator.
Not likely on a Cummins, maybe on a Civic.
Sounds like you have two different problems.
Check for disconnected intake boots, especially the lower passenger side one.
Plugged air or fuel filters.

adambomb777

ok I will.

Fueling around

Do you live in an area where the temperature has dropped below freezing in the time you lost power? It could be fuel gel plugging the filter.

There is 2 possible electrical issues that could cause a loss of power:
fuel shut-off solenoid and starter contacts.

adambomb777

It looks like when the relay went bad and left the intake heater on, that it got hot and melted the hose going from the afc to manifold. I read other posts that use 3/16 or 1/4 inch hose, does it matter? Just use air brake hose? Seems pretty tight in there, do I have to take off the intake manifold to replace the hose? Any tips or ideas would be appreciated.

infidel

Like I thought, two different problems.
Air brake hose would be fine.
You should be able to replace it without removing anything.

adambomb777

I got the hose fitting off the AFC side with no problems. I went to get the other one off the manifold and it is a 90 degree fitting. I can't get the nut off or the fitting. It is on the rear manifold hole and there is not a lot of room to work between the intake manifold and fuel lines. I can't seem to find an angle to rotate the wrench enough. The manifold hole up towards the front of the truck has my boost gauge and has a lot more room. Anyone ever replaced the AFC hose and if so, did you do it without taking the intake manifold off? I didn't want to really the intake manifold gasket. Any ideas?

infidel

Removing the intake manifold is no big deal.
I usually reuse the gasket.
Since you have a Banks kit my bet is the fuel plate and AFC is in the stock position. Slide both of them forward while you're in there.
You will have more power if you need it, mpgs will stay the same.

adambomb777

ok thanks for all your help. I was just wondering if the intake heater being on so long would of melted the gasket. Oh well, if need be I will replace it because I cant see any other way of replacing that fitting. Yeah I was just wondering what banks kit the truck had today. I bought it used. The turbo housing looks stock and doesn't have banks on it. The wastegate doesn't have the "big head banks" sticker on it, but I still get around 30 something psi of boost. It has a K&N in the box and banks exhaust. I just noticed today that the cam plate cover tamper proof screw has been messed with, so I'm assuming it has the ottomind fuel plate. He could have mixed and matched all these parts. I have learned a lot searching post and will look up some on the fuel plate and afc adjustment.

johnh

adambomb777

yeah thanks for the pics. I had already read the previous thread with those pics and bought the ford solenoid from kragen. The pics with the part number were great, I knew I was getting the right one.

GAmes

Just in case it happens again with the other relay, you bought an alternator when you had a good one. The PCM contains the voltage regulator and if there is too large a draw (as in a stuck relay) the PCM will kick the alternator off line. If you had shut the engine off and restarted it, the gen light would not come have come on until the PCM got tired of trying to overcome the constant heavy load. I have my relays wired to a toggle switch in the cab to bypass the PCM cycling of the grid heaters and if I forget to turn the switch off the gen light comes on after about 10 minutes. After all these years (and miles), I am still turning the first replacement of the original alternator.

adambomb777

Yeah I wasted money on the alternator, only good thing is the lifetime warranty now. Your right, the gen light would only come on after about 20 minutes of driving, then when I parked batteries would drain. Then I would charge the batteries and drive and it would take another 20 minutes for gen light to come on. Latest update I rechecked the relays and both are working again. Can weather in the 20's affect the relays enough to stick closed? Also the rubber boots at the heating element on both post were melted, on the one relay the positive cable from the battery had a melted rubber boot and one of the small wires at the same relay had black on the post under the connector boot. Other relay had no marks on it. The small connector boot was just a little loose so I used some needle nose pliers to tighten it. Could that little connector boot being just a little loose have caused the whole thing? Would you guys replace the relay with the melted rubber boot and black post anyway? The wire from the battery to sticking relay has a little tree sap looking stuff coming from it. Where do you get the wires between battery and relays, and the wires between relay and heating element? As of now everything is working good, but I don't want to replace that hose from afc to intake manifold and have it get hot and melt again. Thanks for all the help everyone.

GAmes- do you like it a lot better the way you have the intake heater wired? I might look into doing that too.