I've got to replace my battery again. This will be the fourth one in my truck. The one that came with it lasted about a year after I bought the truck, maybe a little longer. But these last two have only lasted about a year and a half. The first one went, and I took it back. They warrantied it for some of the value but I was out of pocket for some of the battery. Now this one is gone.

Anyone else have problems like this?

I replaced the voltage regulator when I replaced the battery the first time. Do the diesel trucks use the same regulator as the gas? I'm thinking maybe they gave the wrong one.

Well I am off to get a new battery. Think I should replace the regulator again? Wondering if they would have it at a parts place like Canadian Tire or the Parts Source?

Thanks for any help.

 

Regulator is the same. Have you checked the charging voltage (other than with the gauge on the dash) to see if you're overcharging or undercharging? Is the battery securely mounted? Sliding around in the battery tray will kill a battery due to plate cracks. Check the voltage before you throw a regulator at it.

 

Yes, I just checked the voltage. 12.49, so I guess it's still good. Don't know why it won't start. Gonna clean all the terminals and try again.
How do you check the votage while it's running to check for over/under charging? I think it's over charghing because there is a lot of corrosion on the terminals and the and sometimes you can hear a bubbling/hissing noise from it. But I replaced the regualtor, so I didn't think it would be that.

Thanks for the reply.

 

sometimes it will have full volts but no cranking amps.

 

Put a voltmeter on the battery while the engine is running, anything over 14.7 volts is too high with a warm engine. Should be at least 13.8 volts or it's gonna get drained over time. 14.4 volts is the classic "correct" voltage. The battery should read 12.6 volts with a full charge. Bubbling and hissing sounds like overcharging to me.

 

Agreed, overcharging will warp those plates inside the battery...I just told my boss to replace his battery in his pos car due to slow cranking...battery voltage was good ..high 12's at rest...receiving a good charge from the alt..but dropped rapidly to 7 volts from starter draw.
Crappy tire set him up with a new one...I also told him to get a battery hold down or the vibration could shorten the life span of this battery too.

You need to have someone put a loadmeter on the alt output to see what the alt is putting out under load.

 

Got it running.

I changed the connectors that hold the wire to the post. Cleaned everything up. And I drilled a hole into the clamp bolt and tapped it for a 8-32 screw to hold the new connectors on the wires since they were smaller.

I ran it for a bit, the voltage was 14.58 usually. It spiked to 14.64 a couple of times but no higher than that. Was down to 14.4 sometimes too. Turned it off, voltage was 12.96.

Does this sound like the regulator to you?

Thanks for the help, BTW.

 

I'll go put a meter on mine...brb....mine is putting out 14.0 volts at idle at the alt..14.6ish is a tad high but not sure if I would be replacing a regulator. You would need to ensure it is not putting out anything higher than that when the alt is put under load. You can turn on all your electrical accessories and see what voltage the alt puts out. I had a bad regulator on an old chevy alt, it was charging at 18 volts and you could smell it right away!

Ideally the alt amperage output should be checked under load with a meter capable of measuring high amperage.

You shouldn't be going through this many batteries...hmmmm

 

How are you checking it at the alt?

I'm putting my volt meter on the terminals like the guy said above. At idle, it was bouncing form 14.4ish up to 14.64 was the highest that came out.

Should I have someone reving the engine to a certain rpm(not that I could tel, I don't have a tac)?

Like I said earlier, I replaced the regulator when I replaced the first battery.

I do have a feeling its overcharging. There is moisture on the battery at the top, as if it's boiling over. The same thing happened to the last battery but they said it was defective when I took it back. i wonder if it's the same with this one?

Thanks for the responces.

 

The output post on the alt...big wire...should be the same at the positive battery term...your OK checking it at the batt.
Overcharging will hoop a battery quick...electrolyte spilling out the top is a sure sign.

 

I worked in a auto electrical service outlet for a while doing rebuilds, diagnosis and replacements.
To properly test alternator output, you must have a carbon pile (load tester) and an accurate volt/amp meter. You won't be able to tell the max output of an alternator without putting a load on it. The regulator senses a load on the battery and adjusts the alternators output accordingly by opening or closing the field circuits in the alternator.
A bad regulator, and alternator can damage a battery and a bad battery can damage an alternator or regulator. I'm not sure if the CTD's voltage regulator is built into the engine computer (SMEC/body controller) like some of the other Chrysler products. Is the regulator internal or external or built into the computer?
I know if the regulator went bad on some of the FWD cars, you had to replace the whole computer or do like I used to do and just add an external regulator and wire it into the alternator and leave the computer alone.
That was the inexpensive way of cheating. The only proplem with that was the fact that there was usually more damage done to the computer than the regulator only. Sometimes troubles code circuits or ignition circuits were also burn't when the SMEC regulator "fried".

 

Hi Mc Nasty, I see that you mentioned Canadian tire up there, and are no doubt a fellow Canuck. Your problem really does sound like overcharging, but let me throw another wrench in the works. If you got your voltage regulator at Canadian tire, you may be the victim of a bad batch of regulators. I have had the experience of having to put two regulators into my 77 dodge gasser before the thing worked, both purchased at Canadian Tire.

The other thing is that Canadian tire is notorious for selling batteries that are bad from the factory. After having to return several batteries over the years, I buy elsewhere. I know of several others with similar experiences.

One thing puzzles me though. You have a 91 like I do, and it is supposed to have the voltage regulation done by the SMEC, not the old style regulator. I wonder why yours has a regulator? You might want to see what's up there.

I had some charging problems awhile ago, that turned out to be the connections to the SMEC. Once cleaned out, the truck quit over/undercharging. ( I love free fixes!)

I hope this helps in some way. Good luck.

p.s.- GO FLAMES!!!!!!

 

According to Mitchell's online, a 91 has an external (older style) voltage regulator and a 93 like mine has an internal regulator built in as part of the PCM (power control module) or SMEC (single module engine control) if thats what you wanna call it. If it's the later style, any problems should store and display a fault code and trigger the engine fault code light. Unless like I said before, if the computer hasn't fried more than just the voltage regulator part. I have had some where the trouble codes wouldn't be displayed because the computer fried on that section as well asthe voltage regulator section. That makes you think the computor and regulator are fine when in fact they're not. That's why you should do a physical/mechanical test on the alternator and regulator and not depend totally on the computer codes.I have the diagnosis diagrams and testing procedures printed here at work. I can email them too you as a JPEG if you're not sure on how or what to test.

 

For what it's worth, a few years ago I had 2 consecutive bad Delco batteries...the post material was porous, and the pos terminal was always leaking...ate thru the clamp screw on a year.
Not saying this is the problem...just saying that one can easily get a batch of crappy batteries.
Jay

 

Thanks for al the responces.

I do not remeber where I got my regulator at. Could have been auto value or one of those places. It is seperate, mounted on the fire wall. As far as I know, the comp on my truck only controlls the cruise and glow plugs. Mine is actually a 91 1/2.

I also had the battery clamp on my ground get eaten away. There is a lot of corrosion on the battery. And some liquid out of the top. The battery holder(?) had the bolts holding it corrode away last winter and fall forward, but it was so cold at the time I couldn't do anything about it. (-40 for a couple weeks)

So when it warmed up, I removed the battery, washed everything with backing soda and repainted everything. I also replaced the terminals. Then I noticed the same thing happening again, which makes me think overcharging. But from my little test it looks ok. I'm going to get a new regulator cause they are only like $10. See if that fixes it.

Again, thanks for your time.