Clampett

I've read a bunch of threads on charging in this forum but I haven't seen what I'm looking for so I'll post here. When I bought my truck the voltage regulator on the firewall was melting down the firewall so I replaced it with an Autozone part. Everything seemed fine until about 2 weeks ago when I noticed the windows were barely working. I checking the voltage at the battery with it running and It was 12 volts and even pulsing a bit. So I bought a Napa regulator yesterday and put it on last night. I started the truck, hooked up the alternator tester, and it was reading just north of 14 volts which happens to be the testers max reading. I though all was good and shut it off. I get it this morning and first thing i notice is when im accelerating the radio wont work but when i let off it works fine. I also noticed the windows, air conditioning, and wipers were working exceptionally well, lol. I pulled over after 20 miles and felt the battery and it wasn't hot or leaking so I figured all was good and my radio had started working properly as i was goin down the road so i figured that my accessories were now operating like they were supposed to. I get to work 30 miles later and can smell the nasty battery smell, shut it off and pop the hood to see the battery smoking and a little bubbling from under that caps. My question is this, is it normal to get 2 bad regulators in a row? one undercharging and one not regulating the charge properly or do I have a bigger problem? Alternator possible? anything else? It sucks because my windows were flying up and down like a new truck and the air would blow your hair back . Thanks in advance for any input.

bryson711

Ya we went through a couple on my brothers truck before we got a good one, make sure you have it grounded really good, most people run a wire from the mounting screw or the regulator right to the negative on the battery, also supposibly the best regulator is the blue mopar one, we got my brothers through summit racing, there more expensive but it fixed his problem

http://m.summitracing.com/parts/dcc-3690731

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Thunderhog

BULKHEAD CONNECTOR!!!!
The wiring harness passes through the firewall just below the brake booster.
it gets corroded, and then gets hot, then has A LOT of resistance. because of all this resistance, the regulator sees LESS than actual battery voltage. Thus, the overcharging, and slow heater blower, poor working power windows, pulsing lights, etc.
usually by the time this happens, it is best to just hard wire it through the connector.

Clampett

I went back last night and tried the "new, bad" regulator with a ground strap and it wasnt any better, started at 14.5 on startup and steadily climbed as the truck ran, when i hit the throttle it jumped up past 16 and i shut it off and switched back to the "old, bad" regulator with the ground strap and it would'nt put out anything more than 12.4 and I'm pretty sure that was just battery voltage as throttle did nothing to raise it and now my windows dont work at all and the lights suck. I'm gonna swap out the regulator with napa today and head home to try it and check out this bulkhead connector, i hadn't seen anything on that till now, thanks for the heads up.

Santaclaus

Lets start from ground zero. Start by unplugging your regulator and taking a voltage reading of each of the two plugs holes, with the ignition off they should both read zero. With ignition on they should both read battery voltage. Put the plug back in to the regulator and read from the case of the regulator to ground should be zero with the ignition on and off. If all this reads correctly the next move ( such a pain in the rump to put this into text ). With the engine running you will need to check the two small terminals on the back of the alternator. One should have battery voltage and the other should read close to zero if not zero. The important reading is the terminal that has positive voltage is important that it read battery voltage even a 10th of a volt is enough to cause your problem. Just my two cents, Mike.

Clampett

Thanks for the info. I'll do this as soon as i get home. I HATE electrical gremlins

j_martin

It ain't rocket science. When the meter pegs, find out why.

Clampett

I replaced the regulator again and it works perfectly. I appreciate the help, fellas. Sure sucks buying "new" parts and they don't work right out of box but what are ya gonna do. Thanks for the responses. Now on to the next repair, leaking transmission lines......yay