Power Problem

[Mike]

Well i was just out driving my truck and i had the heat on and noticed that my lights dim and my Batt meter goes down when at idle.. now, i have a system in my truck for about 3 months now. and when i have it up the same thing happens.. i just noticed it also happens witht he heat.. i have a cap. so the system should not do that. but even with the system off and the heat on the power still goes down.. now im 1,000 miles out of my 3yr/36,000 mile war.. do you think ford will still fix this? should i call? i know if i bring it in i will hide the system.. any and all comments welcome..



Mike

 

[N2MUDN91]

does it effect your acceleration ? it might be your alternation going out. you could check your battery connections

 

[Mike]

no the truck goes fine...

 

[Mike]

Anyone?!?! please!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[aldive]

Take a voltmeter and check the voltage(1) with motor running and no accessories on and (2) with the heater on.

 

[Mike]

a what?!

 

[aldive]

a VOLTMETER.

 

[Mike]

I Dont have one.. my question is tho.. does anyone have any exp with the dealer fixing things after war is out? im only 1000 out of war.

 

[Alec]

It's probably the alternator or something related. Dunno about the warranty though.

 

[Crankcase]

I doubt Ford will fix anything for free now....the limits are there for a reason

 

[MO_GUY]

before i say its the altenator i got a question.......do the lights dim with ONLY the heater on? or do you have the system on also?

if the system is on, turn it off and see if that helps, if not then i am willing to guess your altenator is going bad, take a voltmeter like said before, put negative on negative side of the battery and positive on positive, while the engine is running you should get at least a constant 12 volts usually more

also note that if you've got a huge system, your cap must be at least 1 farad per 1000 watts

enough of my ramblings, i hope you solve your problem

 

[dogfriend]

You could take it to one of the auto parts places that will test your alternator for free. I'm thinking that it might be a bad battery. That seems more likely to me with the age of your truck. My alternator is still going strong with 83k miles and my Ranger had 125k with the original alternator but went through five batteries and the original one lasted just over 3 years.

 

[Mike]

hmm.. what to do.. what todo

 

[tbomb]

mikke,

what did you end up doing. ive got very similar problems with my truck. i had my charging system tested last week,a nd they said everything was fine, though i know more than the dope who ran the testing equip, and i still think somethings shady. im gonna replace my alternator this weekend and see if it helps (im thinking the alternator is the sole source of the problem...or at least hoping thats all i need to fix.)