overcharging
06-03-2009, 08:14 PM
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overcharging
My truck has been charging around 18 volts and it made my battery leak. I have put in a new battery and an original voltage regulator on it and the voltage dropped back down to 14 and then tonight it is back up to 16-18 volts. This has killed both of my headlights and maybe one of my guages.
06-04-2009, 05:50 AM
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Is the voltage regulator grounded good? I would try that, because the same thing happened to me. Maybe the alternator is going bad too, or you could have a short in your battery where two of the cells welded together.
06-04-2009, 10:28 AM
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This happened to a buddy of mine. Had a hell of a time diagnosing it. All it turned out to be was bad grounds. We replaced all the battery cables and problem solved. Could be the same problem. His was the negative battery cable that connects the 2 batteries together. We used the negative side of jumper cables to jump from battery to battery as a quik fix on the road to get it home as it happened to us out in the bush.
06-04-2009, 04:44 PM
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Try running a ground wire from one of the regulator mounting screws to a bolt on the engine.
What kind of regulator is it? The aftermarket ones suck, originals from the junkyard are better. Any old Mopar product will have one unless somebody got to it first.
What kind of regulator is it? The aftermarket ones suck, originals from the junkyard are better. Any old Mopar product will have one unless somebody got to it first.
06-04-2009, 08:06 PM
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My truck did the same thing ('05). I had one battery boil over so I thought the overheated battery was the problem. Did some research and found out that the battery I thought was OK was the problem. It shorts out and causes the alternator to overcharge the good battery (along with everything else) and kill it. Start your truck and unhook the batteries and see if it goes back to normal.
06-05-2009, 11:28 PM
#7
Wow....that's strange. I asked about the model year of the truck as I didn't see any info. Today at work while choking down a quick lunch I browsed this forum and saw he had a "signature" with all the trucks info. Now I'm home and I don't see it again.
Anyhow checking grounds and Wannadiesels advice is a good start.
....and jfaulkner, your 05 might as well be a Toyota compared to the original posters 1st gen truck. Only thing similar to the two is the 12 volt batteries and an alternator.
....and your 05 has to be looked at like a loop. ECM monitors bat volts, which happens to be off the harness at the L batt. It duty cycles the driver for the alt field and adjusts the voltage as it deems necessary. The alt output goes to an eyelet at the R batt. IF you have a corrosion issue at the R batt or the L crosscable you will have a major voltage diff between the two batts. In other words Mr ECM sees low volts at the R batt and adjusts as necessary...... meanwhile the L batt is taking a 16v beating and will often leak excessively or actually rupture.
Rid of the eyelet, cut the insulation at the cross-cable near the rad cap area, solder the alt output wire into the cross cable. I then cover the solder area with liquid electrical tape. This will prevent all chances of the alt output wiring becoming corroded which greatly reduces the "one fried battery" episodes.
Anyhow checking grounds and Wannadiesels advice is a good start.
....and jfaulkner, your 05 might as well be a Toyota compared to the original posters 1st gen truck. Only thing similar to the two is the 12 volt batteries and an alternator.
....and your 05 has to be looked at like a loop. ECM monitors bat volts, which happens to be off the harness at the L batt. It duty cycles the driver for the alt field and adjusts the voltage as it deems necessary. The alt output goes to an eyelet at the R batt. IF you have a corrosion issue at the R batt or the L crosscable you will have a major voltage diff between the two batts. In other words Mr ECM sees low volts at the R batt and adjusts as necessary...... meanwhile the L batt is taking a 16v beating and will often leak excessively or actually rupture.
Rid of the eyelet, cut the insulation at the cross-cable near the rad cap area, solder the alt output wire into the cross cable. I then cover the solder area with liquid electrical tape. This will prevent all chances of the alt output wiring becoming corroded which greatly reduces the "one fried battery" episodes.
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06-06-2009, 04:51 PM
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...and jfaulkner, your 05 might as well be a Toyota compared to the original posters 1st gen truck. Only thing similar to the two is the 12 volt batteries and an alternator.
....and your 05 has to be looked at like a loop. ECM monitors bat volts, which happens to be off the harness at the L batt. It duty cycles the driver for the alt field and adjusts the voltage as it deems necessary. The alt output goes to an eyelet at the R batt. IF you have a corrosion issue at the R batt or the L crosscable you will have a major voltage diff between the two batts. In other words Mr ECM sees low volts at the R batt and adjusts as necessary...... meanwhile the L batt is taking a 16v beating and will often leak excessively or actually rupture.
Rid of the eyelet, cut the insulation at the cross-cable near the rad cap area, solder the alt output wire into the cross cable. I then cover the solder area with liquid electrical tape. This will prevent all chances of the alt output wiring becoming corroded which greatly reduces the "one fried battery" episodes.
....and your 05 has to be looked at like a loop. ECM monitors bat volts, which happens to be off the harness at the L batt. It duty cycles the driver for the alt field and adjusts the voltage as it deems necessary. The alt output goes to an eyelet at the R batt. IF you have a corrosion issue at the R batt or the L crosscable you will have a major voltage diff between the two batts. In other words Mr ECM sees low volts at the R batt and adjusts as necessary...... meanwhile the L batt is taking a 16v beating and will often leak excessively or actually rupture.
Rid of the eyelet, cut the insulation at the cross-cable near the rad cap area, solder the alt output wire into the cross cable. I then cover the solder area with liquid electrical tape. This will prevent all chances of the alt output wiring becoming corroded which greatly reduces the "one fried battery" episodes.
06-07-2009, 11:08 AM
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problem fixed for now
I tried a ground to the regulator and nothing happened. I had my alternator tested and it checked out good. My battery was under warrenty so i got another one for no charge. I had an original mopar voltage regulator on it from an old dodge car and it worked for a day and i just bought one from autozone and so far it's good. 
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