i parked my tuck and noticed the batteries were steeming. I took them in and got them tested and both are shot. they arent that old so i doubt that is the problem. my friend says it might be my voltage regulator but he had no idea where that would be on a newer dodge. any ideas would help a lot. i need my truck

 

I believe the voltage regulator is in the trucks computer ..........

if I remember right, there is also a battery tempature sensor under the drivers side battery that controls the rate of charge..........

 

You still might have a battery problem anyhow. I have seen new batteries have problems too. You may have had one of them develop an internal problem such as a plate dislodging and shorting out that one cell. That in turn can cause a battery to make the voltage regulator to think it needs more power than it should. That will also cause any other battery hooked up to see the same overcharge. You need to get your charging system checked out by a competent tech. I seem to remember Haulin' had posted an explanation for installing an external voltage regulator if the one in the computer goes bad.
Tom

 

A word of warning, if you fill those batteries or replace them and they boil over while on the road, you will trash the paint on the front fenders. It can also trash the cruise and engine heater relays.

 

Another good reason for spending the extra $$ on a couple of Optimas (no maintenence, no leaking).

I also agree with MNTom. You should have your charging system voltage and amps checked out to determine if this was a battery problem or a charging system problem. You don't need to smoke two more batteries right away.

 

I had an aquaintance have the acid burn through the main wiring harness when the batteries boiled over. Truck was out for three months while DC built him a new harness...

 

I had one go bad in my old 89 one time. When I got out of the truck in the driveway, I could smell it and when I opened the hood, I could hear it boiling inside. I asked a battery type friend (a sparky)about it and he said "STAY AWAY". It probably had a malfunction inside and was shorting and could explode at any time. I walked out and very gingerly closed the hood and left it set for about a week. Then I very gingerly pulled the battery out, all the while cutting a hole in my shorts, and set it on the far side of the yard. It sat there for about a month before I finally got the nerve to gingerly put it in the truck and haul it off.

BTW, what is "gingerly" anyway?
I've always heard that term and thought "I just have to use that in a phrase some time".

 

When my truck was about six months old, went to a relatives house, shut it off for a couple of hours, when the key was turned on one batter exploded. Battery acid all over everything. Truck never felt new again. Its a real mess to clean up and some of it never gets back to normal. Black plastic parts are discolored, etc.

Next I put new batteries in and within a couple of months they had boiled over and ruined the paint on both fenders.

Next I went to Optima batteries.

Soon the regulator went bad in the PCM so installed the external regulator. Now it works fine.

All the while the voltages checked good, but the external regulator charges lower.

 

batteries are some mean little critters, just waiting for an unsuspecting victim to rub them the wrong way. most people can't imagine the destructice force that pretty little plastic box contains. and by all means, if you have to work on or around them, wear eye protection. let's all be carefull out there, somebody needs you.

 

Saw a guy put the wrong battery in a Pinto one time. The battery was too tall and when he shut the hood, it shorted out both posts and blew the battery and the hood slam off the car. There are some nastly little chemical things happening in those little cases.

 

gingerly
Cautiously; timidly; fastidiously; daintily
Possibly alteration of obsolete French gensor, delicate, from Old French, comparative of gent, gentle.

You did good to treat the battery gingerly

 

If you carried it with your thumbs and index fingers, and walked on your tip toes, you carried it gingerly.

 

Instead of setting it down gingerly, I would have hurled it over an evil neighbors fence But not living in town, I'd have hurled it around the cornver of a building and quickly got away. No use sticking your face right over it to be nice to the battery or your face could go from this to

 

Cool, didn't think of that.
I just wanted to get away from it. It was very hot when it was boiling obviously. After it set in the truck for a week and cooled off, I felt it was somewhat safe to move it around. I laid some material over it and commenced to gettin it out of my truck. It set in the far corner of the yard for about a month or so before I would go close to it again. In fact, I had forgot about it until I almost hit it with the riding mower while cutting grass one day.
Haven't had one do that since then either.