Now that we have turned the clocks back, I noticed that when I'm leaving work and it's dark outside,I start my truck and turn on the headlights. 30 to 60 seconds later they suddenly brighten substantially. I've noticed that when I start the truck the Ampmeter gauge takes a while to move up to the 13-14 volt charging status. Does anyone else out there experience the same thing? Or is this the beginning of a faulty charging system? Thanks<br>

 

That's the effect that the grid heaters in the intake horn have on the electrical system.
Basicly a &quot;toaster&quot; draining juice for a few minutes to provide hot air to the engine for reduced smoke at cold startup.
It's also why you never use starting fluid/ether on a Dodge/Cummins.
It's normal, and why we have two batteries.

 

It's not a prob.
It's norm for this to happen , it's the heater kicking in and out untill the engine is up to temp.
Don't Worry Be Happy ;D

: Eddie : 8)

 

[quote author=Shovelhead link=board=5;threadid=6410;start=0#59205 date=1035977470]<br><br>It's also why you never use starting fluid/ether on a Dodge/Cummins.<br><br>[/quote]<br><br>Just to make sure no one new to the Dodge CTD didn't miss this important tidbit of advice now that we're in that season again. NEVER, NEVER, NEVER use starting fluid and those neat propellant can's of spray defroster for the same reason. Yes, I've read that there are some who have gotten away with it. Hey, it's your 30K plus truck. Hint of the week. You know those great big containers of deicer (yellow in color, Prestone by name, the only effective one that I've found) that Wally World and others sell for putting into your windshield washers. I bought a small (1 gallon) pump up sprayer and fill it with the deicer. Just spray it on the windows while listening to your neighbors scraping sounds. ;D ;D Course our neighbors down south can ignore this hint. If it gets below 65, they get nervous, declare a regionwide holiday and rush the grocery stores <br><br>~Dave