voltage regulator?

[Dodgecrawler2011]

Old yhread I know but I change my 92 over to the external regulator. Hooked the hot to the fss blue wire. Truck has good ground now ita overcharging. At idle its 14.50. But jumps with the revs and reamains steady till you let off. Is it possible the brand new regulator is bad.

[Hansen01]

Is the plug nice and tight? May have a bad regulator. Ive been through many of them

[BobS]

14.7 is pretty much a normal charging rate. If you have an old weak battery then you will see it charge until the power drawn from the battery is replaced. Normally the older the battery - the longer for the replacement charge time. The alternator only replaces the power that is drawn from the battery. It does not normally charge whenever there is not a load on the battery. Also factor in the % of error of the test meter. Not all handheld volt meters are created equal.

[Dodgecrawler2011]

Id have to double check but battery is almost new. I ran it dead tho when it was undercharging. And havent driven the truck much sense then. . It was as dead as doornail this morning. Could it he tryn to catch up now? And the lights also dim and get brighter with the motor revs

[BobS]

You should always first try to charge a dead battery with a battery charger. Your alternator was designed to replace power that was removed under normal use. Even though it will charge a dead battery it will put a considerable amount of load on the alternator.

[Dodgecrawler2011]

Well battery is not dated but looks new. If the alternator is tryn to recharge it. Whens should I expect to see the volt meter start dropping. After only 10 mins of running truck has no problem starting off battey. It springs to life very quick

[BobS]

If you are referring to the in dash voltmeter you need to keep in mind that it isn't much more than a general reference gauge. Charge rates are determined by the age of the battery and it's overall condition. Also keep in mind that that you can kill a brand new battery by constantly discharging it below a certain voltage. IIRC, it's somewhere in the 10 volt range, but I'm not exactly sure of the absolute number. This is frequently explained in discussions about photovoltaic [solar] battery charging systems.

[Dodgecrawler2011]

Battery checked out good yesterday according to autozone. Im just use to gas motor dodges of that era. Ive had bout 10 and they all stayed right in the middle on volt gauge on dash no matter if the battery was brand new or had to be jumped daily. Im New to diesel so im not sure what it does and the qwikrs they do when charging and all that. Im guna put a old voltage regulator on it and try that

[142autox]

For those with canibalized harnesses and/or bad computers can we convert to a GM single wire and bypass the computer?

[ellis93]

For those with canibalized harnesses and/or bad computers can we convert to a GM single wire and bypass the computer?

Yes.....I've ran across several treads on folks doing repowers and using them with great results. Several of the treads had them moding the brackets,but the pully off the dodge alt worked with the Chevy alt.

[ellis93]

Ran across this too


http://www.dieseltruckresource.com/dev/ ... hp?t=78691

http://www.dieseltruckresource.com/dev/ ... 730&page=3

[142autox]

Thanks Ellis.

[Dodgecrawler2011]

Went and got another new regulator. Factory gauge stll says its overcharging. Took it to the autozone. Alt is good battery is good. Also says charging system good. Cel popped on so I did the key trick. It tells me asd relay has low voltage and the also says its overcharging? Im at a lost. Auto zone also said started voltage is low. This is my first 12 valve and its kinda ruining me on these trucks. 1 step fwd and 10 back

[PToombs]

Don't trust the factory gauge except for a basic check. Put a multitester or volt meter on it to make sure what it's charging. Don't check the voltage right after you start it because the grids may be on, that will suck the voltage way down briefly. I wonder if you are having ground issues and it's causing the gauge fluctuations and codes? Check all the grounds and clean the battery terminals if you haven't done it lately. That's a good place to start.

[Hansen01]

Especially the ground that comes off the battery to the core support, and there is another one back behind the head under the regulator that is kind of hard to see.