Electrical Weirdness!

[Gator Jeff]

This is a recap of my previous posts, but things have quickly worsened as you will soon read. While driving yesterday, my battery light came on and the volt gauge was reading low. It happened at highway speeds and after driving for about 15 minutes. The light went out and the gauge returned to normal.

Quick background... 2000 Sport with the OHV engine, 126,000 miles, Northeast truck since new, 1 year old Bosch battery with about 10,000 miles on it, original alternator and cables.

I took it to Pep Boys and they ran a diagnostic and said that nothing was wrong. They also didn't get the light or gauge. Well, when I started her up to drive home, I got the light and gauge issue again. I went back in and basically said WTF, although nicely and they said to just get a new battery since it's under warranty.

It started fine this morning, but the light and gauge issue was still present.

Needless to say, I'm not 100% confident about their diagnosis now. So, a few questions.

1. What are the odds that the alternator is bad even though it passed the diagnostic?
2. If I need a new alternator, should I go new or remanufactured? Also, 95 or 130 amps?
3. Could it be the cables? I'm tempted to change them out anyway since the clamps seem super thin.
4. Is there another potential issue that I and they did not think of?

Started fine this evening, but idled very rough for the first 10-15 seconds. Ran great after that. Smooth idle at stop lights and strong acceleration. Had to make a stop and it started fine once again. Also, headlights might be slightly dim. Battery light and sagging gauge present the whole time. All other electrical (radio, gauges, etc.) work just fine.

Going home from the firehouse and the radio blinked off for a moment. Then as I was nearing home (thank God!) my ABS light came on, then the truck started to lag a little bit and then the tach stopped working. The radio also blinked on and off several times. My headlights stayed on as did my instrument lights, but the reading lamps did not work. Also, the power locks were still working.

A fellow firefighter convinced me to avoid PepBoys, not hard after reading the above and replacing the stuff myself. I have no problem trying that, but is there anything that I should consider other than the new battery, alternator and cables?

HEELLLLPPPPP!:roll:

 

[Turdle]

Get a remanufactured 130 amp alternator. I'd avoid the autozone's duralast-just me.

 

[Tbars4]

...pepboy's is not a place i would have even look under the hood myself...anyway's, the alt could be bad and so could the harness...you need to pull the alt and have it tested by itself...most likely that is your problem...

 

[Gator Jeff]

Thanks all! Sounds like its a consensus with the alternator then. I'm assuming that the harness is different than the battery cables. Is a harness something that I could get at a AutoPepZone or do I need to go to the dealership?

Any other suggestions are still welcome...

 

[Tbars4]

...naw, its a factory/jy thing but firs pull and test the alt...it's free and easy at the places you named...

 

[Propane]

Replace or rebuild Alt.,preferable to rebuild it by a local shop, make sure to replace the rotor.

 

[JDraper]

Alternator would definitely be the primary suspect.

The battery indicator on the dash really is a charging system warning light, not a battery warning light. It turns on when the system stops charging .99% of the time when it comes on, it's for a bad alternator.

 

[bdr5oh]

just to let ya know ...... ford uses an Ign. feed wire to "turn" on the Alt. ....

in my time i have honestly fixed about 100+ cases of the wire being "broken " in the harness ...

that would be the first place i would look ..... just my .02

 

[96eb96]

the dash voltage light is directly connected to the single spade wire on your alternator. Mine used to flicker when i went over a bump, I ended up replacing the spade end. Have someone wiggle your alternator wires and see if the dash indicators change. When pep boys did the test the loose wire was probably in the right position. Do not implicate the alternator until you do this wiggle test. If you do the problem will come right back.

 

[Gator Jeff]

Problem solved. It was the alternator. Got screwed by the stealership though. $460 to install a friggin' remanufactured 95 amp alternator. Should have just taken a chance and put in a new alternator myself. I could have gotten a 135 amp NEW one from the 'Boys for about $150 and it would have probably cost me another $50 or so for the tools I needed for the install. The truck was almost dead though and all my friends/neighbors were out of town or working. Oh well, lesson learned. Thanks for all the help.

 

[JDraper]

Problem solved. It was the alternator. Got screwed by the stealership though. $460 to install a friggin' remanufactured 95 amp alternator. Should have just taken a chance and put in a new alternator myself. I could have gotten a 135 amp NEW one from the 'Boys for about $150 and it would have probably cost me another $50 or so for the tools I needed for the install. The truck was almost dead though and all my friends/neighbors were out of town or working. Oh well, lesson learned. Thanks for all the help.

Ouch!!!!