My truck has been charging around 18 volts and it made my battery leak. I have put in a new battery and an original voltage regulator on it and the voltage dropped back down to 14 and then tonight it is back up to 16-18 volts. This has killed both of my headlights and maybe one of my guages.

 

Grounds, Grounds, Grounds, Grounds, Grounds, Grounds, 99% are Ground related.

Mike

 

I replied to your post on the help page, but I would also make sure your battery hasn't welded together because of the heat and voltage. If it did it would still run but the charging would be all messed up.

 

Another thing to check is the bulkhead connector. Over time there is more and more resistance in this connection, and the voltage regulator "sees" less voltage than the battery actually has. The regulator keeps telling the alternator to charge more and fries the battery. I put a relay next to the regulator, hooked directly to battery, and key on powers it up. 14.8 volts at the battery at all times now! I generally route a battery feed directly through the firewall into the cabin on all my Mopars, bypassing the bulkhead connector completely, or drill through the connetor on my restoration stuff so it looks stock.The relay was an on the road "temporary" fix that has worked so well I just left it alone. That bulkhead connector can have enough resistance to melt the connector, and or start a fire. This is another reason high draw items (power windows, heater fan) start functioning poorly.

 

Oh, one other thing. Replace the water in the battery with DISTILLED water, if the battery is still O.K.!And get Baking soda on that entire area to neutralize the acid.

 

I tried a ground to the regulator and nothing happened. I had my alternator tested and it checked out good. My battery was under warrenty so i got another one for no charge. I had an original mopar voltage regulator on it from an old dodge car and it worked for a day and i just bought one from autozone and so far it's good.