Ok I'm new to diesels I have a 2006 2500 big horn with 5.9 just got it and having weird problems.

1. Win I turn key on sometimes I see grid heater light the little coil or spring looking light. Mostly I don't see nothing after all lights go off the Ck engine light will blink several times then stop. So is this normal to not see the grid heater light every time and for the Ck eng light to flash?

2. My radio works sometimes most of the time it don't have power or at least nothing will come on except time win u press it

3. My rpm gauge started messing up pretty sure I can fix that with the shim trick

4. Win I was trying to figure out what the grid heater light was doing I started truck ran for few mins then I cut it off and batteries did not have enough juice to start truck is this normal for the truck to not be able to start two times in a row? I took both battery's to auto parts store to have them checked out of truck and they said both were good and the cca was at what batteries were suppose to be at but one of the batteries was low on charge but good juSt needed to be charged back up. With different battery's in truck now from another truck I drove truck to auto parts to have the whole system checked with truck running it said altnator was bad not putting out enough amps so I took it off and went to get a new one and they tested it on machine and it said it was good *** took to another place said it was good not sure what to do from here thanks for any help

 

Grid heater light is normal.

Sounds like you need new batteries. When they get weak the ECM will start shutting off non-important battery drains. Radio not turning on and extended crank times was what told me it was time for new batteries.

Check your cables, common for corrosion on these guys.

 

thanks im thinking the same thing on batteries even though they charge don't seam to hold it long I'm positive if grid heaters come on and i start it and cut it off and try again it want have enough power to start a 2nd time in less I drive a while and let them charge up. Just don't understand why a Ck would say my alternator was bad while in truck but not off truck

 

While its in the truck, there are a lot of other things pulling on the alternator than just the test machine. These new test machines are junk imo.. I do miss the days of analog gauges and not having to rely on some computer to just tell me "good" or "bad"

 

dOn'T GO TO Auto Zone, FOR Alt Batt. Check, three times they say Alternator bad, in reality Battery was bad, My Daughter in Law, Sons Father in Law and of coarse my self, changed alternator no help, Promptly change battery Problem solved, Never again to Auto Zone.

 

The grid heater puts a big strain on the batteries. Even with good batteries, my wipers work slower when it's on. So, it makes sense if the batteries are marginal and you add the grid heater load, it could drag the batteries down enough to affect another starting cycle before the alternator has had a chance to top off the batteries again.

 

I agree 100%!




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First step, charge both batteries. Second step, disconnect cables. Third step, load test batteries individually. Then you will find out which battery is weak or if both are. Most parts stores won't do this because it takes too much time and they are afraid of breaking terminals.