'93 Chevy 1500 4x4 pickup charging woes

[EskimoEddie]

Buddy of mine has a rather used '93 Chevy 1500 P/U with a Meyer's plow and it's got a weird charging/starting problem. It won't start in the morning sometimes, central CT can be a little chilly this time of year, so we thought that it was a crappy battery that's causing the non-start problem. Sometimes, if he runs it a while, and then stops and lets it sit for 20-30 mins, it's dead again. Checked all cables to and from battery, alternator, starter, plow pump, and all seem ok, cleaned all contacts, no shorts, etc....

With a foot+ storm on it's way, I need to figure something out fast. Replaced battery yesterday and it seemed better, the charging gage on the dash went right up to 14v, but then dropped to below 10v, but then came back up to 14v.

Could this be an alternator issue? Voltage regulator? Serpentine belt tensioner? Old belt? Parts store checked alternator and they say it's ok, but we didn't take it out of the truck to do a real bench test.

Thanks to all who can give any tips!! Be safe out there in the snow if you're in it's path today!! Don't want any of this -> :roll:

 

[james t]

His truck has an integrated voltage regulator... its built in to the altenator. Weird things happen when these start to go out. Since all the wiring checked out and a swapped battery didnt fix it, id say its time to pull the alt. off and bench test it.

 

[EskimoEddie]

Thanks for the reply!

We might have time to do a bench test before the storm hits, all day yesterday, the forecasters **said** that it would start snowing here by 5a, NOT!!!!! It's now 10:30 and the sun's almost out!!

Well, thanks again for the reply.