nickg

to late for you now but, usually when an alt goes, if you unplug the field wire (always the smaller wires) it turns the field off which is a huge electrical drain, doing this will allow the batterys to last for hours, leave it plugged in and it can kill a single battery in 20mins or less.

there can be several ways an alt can die, and depending on what part fails will determine how long the veh will run until the battery fails. so to insure the longest run time, unhook the field connector,

if the voltage reg fails (open) battery will last a long time
if slip rings/brushes wear out or fail, the battery will die quickly.

nickg

if your on the road (away from repair facility)you could also unhook the ground on the pass side battery, and run the truck till the battery died, then unhook the drv side ground, and hook the pass side ground back up, that would allow you to run on the second battery,
not sure if the two hooked together would last longer than running each of them down independantly, but at least it would give you options when the first battery runs dry

goatbrain5.9

why didn't you tell me this daniella i would've came to help lol

pistazie

Wow, nice info there Nick, I will ask my mech. what and where a field wire is, LOL, sadly I have no idea! Live and learn...

hi there goatbrain!

Mike Holmen

Its usually the two wire clip (smaller gauge wire) that on the back of the alternator. Usually there three wires, a big thick wire 4 guage I guess and two thinner guage wires (the field wires). I broke my wire clip on the back of mine four to five years ago, so every once and awhile the wires work there way out of the clip.

If its an alternator (which sounds like it is), its about 15-30 min repair. Get an HD alternator, they have abit more capacity for lights, stereo, etc...

My last alternator replacement, I shorted out a wrench against the turbo oil feed line and burnt a hole into the hose. Thankfully I have a few motors laying around, so I was up and running again.

Good luck. Is your daughter getting any better? Chicken pox, thats a long time for a kid to be sick.

pistazie

Oh yeah, thanks, she's fine, its a mild case - for her it's been a big-ole holiday, lol. Just needed to keep her quarantined!

It's great hearing about your misadventures in automotive mechanics, just as long as you don't hurt yourself!

Mike Holmen

Thankfully, these days. Back 50 years ago, it wasn't as pleasant.

Worst beakdowns occur on busy hiways. Remember doing a few tires repairs in heavy heavy company trucks, back in the days before cell phones. Today we call AMA.

pistazie

Well I had to have a root canal today, and I thought that was enough pain for one day, but then I went to pick up my truck!

A new OEM alternator - from the dealership because there were none other to be found, used or new - was $480, including markup and GST.

*sigh* i have really had better weeks.

Check engine light is still on from that P1751 code. probably need a new shift enhancer, seems like its on the fritz.

winkdemon

the batteries most of been pretty died of there no good

pistazie

Now I realize you're as clever as hell, but I do not understand this man talk . The batteries checked out OK according to my mech., he was not surprised the truck died so quick on the road. So I won't be replacing them yet. At least they're still recharging faster than my bank account, lol.

Mike Holmen

For $480 dollars, hopefully the shop is putting in a decent alternator. Thats all you need to get you going again. Just put the batteries on the charger and bring them back to life.

nickg

joes electric in edmonton sells new bosch for around 200$ 1yrs warrantee, I usually find he has the best pricing/service.
good source to keep in the memory bank

pistazie

For any others in my circumstance, I will just mention that apparently for these newer trucks the alternator is a dealership part only (but check!). No high-output variations that I'm aware of, just OEM. It has some kind of clutch system in it apparently that regulates charging.

Plus at that price new it may be worthwhile to get it rebuilt.

Too late in my case, but learning things the hard way is pretty much par for the course for me .

Mike Holmen

Daniella, if you got a new alternator, installed for $480, you did pretty good. With the new alternator, it should last longer than a jobber rebuilt unit. You keeping the old alternator? If you are you could get it rebuilt down the road, with a few extra windings for additional current loading.

I'm supprised that you can't find a rebuilt unit out there. 06, isn't that new you can find most of the early failure replacement parts by now.

So did you ever fix that erratic shifting issue? My truck for that part its still mechanical cable. You just remove the clip, and adjust the throttle level for the transmission shifts rpm's that you want to shift at.

pistazie

No, $480 was just the part. the whole bill was $600 after the testing, battery recharge, install etc. Yeah, apparently the used ones fly out the door immediately. Its a luck thing. I believe there is a core on those, in any case I didn't get the old one back. I will ask my mech., he usually gives me back any parts that were taken out.

Transmission is another issue, mine has the TTVA motor which I believe is shot. I am trying to find one today.