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1st Gen. Ram - All TopicsDiscussion for all Dodge Rams prior to 1994. This includes engine, drivetrain and non-drivetrain discussions. Anything prior to 1994 should go in here.
I took all that trim off my truck and filled in the holes. The trim was old and would have required a lot of work to get it looking better and it still would have been old. The clean look is much better IMHO.
I took the truck over to Del Taco to get supper for the wife. Happy to report the voltage stays steady at 14.5 volts. I guess both VR's I had were bad and the new one did the trick. Lesson: Never overlook the obvious!
Edwin
Been following the frustration on that, glad you got it figured out!
Stripped the power windows/locks stuff from my old doors, removed the last of the body parts from the parts truck, and loaded it up to haul it off to a guy who will part out the rest of it in exchange for a good left fender and a DODGE RAM stamped tailgate.
Gotta love Southern Living where you can peel a 34 year-old fender from a vehicle and find it is completely rust-free.
Stripped the power windows/locks stuff from my old doors, removed the last of the body parts from the parts truck, and loaded it up to haul it off to a guy who will part out the rest of it in exchange for a good left fender and a DODGE RAM stamped tailgate.
Gotta love Southern Living where you can peel a 34 year-old fender from a vehicle and find it is completely rust-free.
Hey BB,
Truck looks great. Love the rust free parts.
TC has his crew all multi colored panels, and calls it "Patches"
Turned 10,000 miles on the way home, from an emergency service call in LA last night. My frame graft is holding strong, tires are wearing evenly, it’s not pulling to the side, shaking or making any strange noises. I’ll call it good.
Cheap crappy replacement parts these days. In my opinion it's the biggest problem keeping our old rigs on the road and working properly.
I agree and one of the reasons I like to grab "seasoned" parts from the wreckers. If the part looks like it's been in place for a while, then there is a good chance it will be in good functioning condition.
Saw this on the road today. Pulled the guy over , and offered him a square trade. My 92 1st gen. He said no way, as his ride was way more valuable. He went on his way.
Saw this on the road today. Pulled the guy over , and offered him a square trade. My 92 1st gen. He said no way, as his ride was way more valuable. He went on his way.
Just saw this. At 20 volts your battery top would be in orbit. Your meter is broken.
No. The meter's not broken. I have 3 of them and they all agree. I don't trust the battery though because I think the overcharging has made it unreliable. It still starts the truck so I can't junk it yet. When it gives out I'll get the proper sized battery for the truck instead of the O'Reilly special that the kid foisted off on me when I was to tired to argue about it. Thinking about it though I may check if the tops of the cells will come off. Then I can see if the electrolyte has boiled off.
No. The meter's not broken. I have 3 of them and they all agree. I don't trust the battery though because I think the overcharging has made it unreliable. It still starts the truck so I can't junk it yet. When it gives out I'll get the proper sized battery for the truck instead of the O'Reilly special that the kid foisted off on me when I was to tired to argue about it. Thinking about it though I may check if the tops of the cells will come off. Then I can see if the electrolyte has boiled off.
Edwin
I saw that you had repaired it and deleted the post. Not quick enough I guess.
If the battery would go to 20V, either the electrolyte is gone, or water has been added so often that it's too weak. Either way, i'd bet if you load test it it'll indicate junk.
I just checked and the electrolyte was low but still above the plates. I added some distilled water to bring it up to full rings. This is the first time I added water. Unless the acid is spewing out of the battery adding water doesn't dilute the electrolyte much because only the water decomposes when the battery is charged.
My previous battery got burned up because of this problem however. It WAS spewing acid.
I took the truck over to Del Taco to get supper for the wife. Happy to report the voltage stays steady at 14.5 volts. I guess both VR's I had were bad and the new one did the trick. Lesson: Never overlook the obvious!
Edwin
So, Edwin,
Do you think it was simply a couple bad VR's ?
I remember back in the 90's I worked for a shop and we actually had a VR tester. It was part of the same testing apparatus we used to test alternators and starters. It had a couple wire looms that had VR clips on the end of them. We could test VR's right on the spot.
Geesh, with all this chinese crapola on the market, I guess we need to find one of those machines and ship it over to ya.!
Glad it's done...... or at least until you tell us it didn't work out again.
I remember back in the 90's I worked for a shop and we actually had a VR tester. It was part of the same testing apparatus we used to test alternators and starters. It had a couple wire looms that had VR clips on the end of them. We could test VR's right on the spot.
Geesh, with all this chinese crapola on the market, I guess we need to find one of those machines and ship it over to ya.!
Glad it's done...... or at least until you tell us it didn't work out again.
I drove over to take the wife to lunch and the voltage stayed right where it's supposed to be. 14.5 - 14.7 volts. Or rather her company paid for lunch.
I don't know why I was so resistant to swapping the VR. I guess I figured it couldn't be THAT! Any other time I would have swapped that first thing.
I don't know if they can be damaged by a bad ground but it seems plausible.
I haven't done the battery leak current test yet but I need to. I've been looking buying at this AC-DC clamp current meter to check it also but I don't know if it's sensitive enough. My Tripplett only goes to 10 Amps. My voltage says about 11.8 or so before I start it but it always starts right up. I need to test if I can start it by letting it roll down the driveway and popping the clutch. I used to have to do that to an old Corvair that I had to park on a hill because the starter was busted. That was the good old days when beer was more essential than car parts.
..... or at least until you tell us it didn't work out again.
