BigWaylon

pretty sure I know the "problem" based on popular opinion...but wanted to make sure there wasn't something else specific to the 1st Gen Rams (or diesels in general) that I was overlooking...

rented my truck to fellow Jeeper last weekend...for a trip from Hickory, NC into TN...several hours each way...

about 10 minutes from his destination, he smells that lovely sulfur smell, and pulls over to find one of my batteries is swollen up and has blown the cap off...

somebody with him that has a 1st Gen CTD says it came with a single battery originally, so they decide to drive it home a couple days later on the remaining battery (same decision I would've made)...and about 15 minutes from his house the truck died...second battery was swollen up and dead...

he put the battery out of the Jeep he was trailering in the Dodge, fired it up and drove it home...next morning, gets up to bring it back to me and it's dead...

all that sounds like a voltage regulator gone bad...overcharged the first two, then left the path open over night to completely drain the third battery...

I haven't put another battery in it to test the voltage, but they got ~14.2V at idle when they tested it after the first battery blew...no telling what it's charging at higher RPM's...

any other input?

BTW...I'd not had any issues after converting to dual batteries, so I don't think that has anything to do with it...in fact, the duals probably caused it to last longer that a single would, as the amperage was distributed over both batteries...

Thanks.
Greg

wannadiesel

Replace the regulator with a genuine MOPAR unit. Best thing to do is hit the junkyard and pick up two - one for now and one for under the seat.

Run a ground from the engine to the firewall while you're at it - overcharging can also be caused by a poor ground on the VR.

edwinsmith

MAke sure you got a good ground between the regulator and the body and also between the body and the engine/battery.

This is a common problem.

Edwin

rbrettctd

Hey bigwaylon, offtopic here, but...
I see from your sig you have a Banks actuator, but also a boost controller. I asked about this a while back, and with the Banks, they are supposedly adjustable so you dont need the controller. Have you tried turning the rod on the wastegate?

BigWaylon

never installed the boost controller...or the stacks for that matter...

thanks for the reminder, though...I need to just remove them from my sig...



Greg

BigWaylon

"from the engine"? care to explain a bit more?


Thanks.
Greg

BigWaylon

again...a little more (basic) clarification?

my new homemade dual tray is wood...that play any part in having a good ground?

Thanks.
Greg

wannadiesel

A 16 gauge wire from the engine (head, block, doesn't matter) to the firewall is all you need. Make sure the connection points are free of grease or paint.

Nope.