Low battery

[JesterRampage]

So on jan 31st I hit some black ice. Slid right into a guard rail Messed up my pass side fender and headlight assembly. I noticed later on that night that the marker bulb was broken off and had drained my battery. I pulled it out and jumped my vehicle. The battery wasn't charging well and old so I replaced it. I got the new battery installed and my battery gauge in the vehicle is reading pretty low. Also the battery light is on. I checked the voltage and its at 12 while its off. I turn the truck over and the alt/batt are at 14.2. Any ideas?

 

[bobflood]

Battery light on generally means that alternator is not charging battery, but 14.2V while truck is running is pretty good. New battery charge could have been low when it was installed. I would put battery on a charger overnight, plus clean up both my battery terminals really well. Also, check the battery cables themselves - they can corrode down inside the insulation near the terminals. Good luck.

 

[JesterRampage]

Yeah, I cleaned them off a bit and the ground. Still not quite sure why the gauge is reading low and the battery light are on when I turn the ignition in the on position. Its still at 12v to the battery even when I do that. I took it to autozone and they had said the alt and battery were both fine. Gonna be an interesting weekend.

 

[pitbulldell]

I would check all wiring being that you hit the guard rail a wire some were could have gotten pinched and is grounding out or broken.

 

[budwich]

pull / disconnect all the connections at the alternator. Get a meter. With the KEY OFF, measure for voltage at all the wires (connectors) to a KNOWN ground. This will likely quickly tell you where your problem is.... especially if you report your findings back here ...

 

[Turdle]

Check mini fuse under hood. Marked as Generator (fuse #14) in this picture.

 

[JesterRampage]

Thanks for all the info! Will try to get at it tomorrow if its not raining.