So, last Tuesday @ 6AM, I go to start the -40 and head to work. Hasn'nt been an issue yet. I turn the key - and nothing. Quick pull on the head light switch, and - no lights either. Darn, dead battery, right?
I turned my daughteres car around, jumped the -40 and headed off to work. Amp meter sat on 0, bouncing slightly back and forth. I checked the battery at work, and it read 12V..? huh. Im only 6 miles away. Didnt think it'd charge that quick. Checked the alternator o/p - and it was steady climbing 12, 13, 14, 15... all the way to 17V ! I checked the Voltage Regulator, and did some searches here on Mud, and decided that I'd get a replacement, swap it in, and adjust the original so that I could have a spare.
Fast forward to yesterday. I'm at work, walk out and jump in the rig to head to an appointment. DEAD. No lights. When I got back, checked the battery, 12V. Load tested it - and still had 12V. No brake lights, no headlights, nothing.
Checked the fuses - good. Battery is good. Starter (used a long philllips) is good. Glenn @lextechautomotive said to check the connections to the ignition switch - they're good, still have 12V. Pulled the steering column cover, checked the actual ignition switch - and Ive got power to the ignition switch also. WHERE IS THE POWER GOING ?
I don't have a fusible link coming off of the battery - but I do have a connector in line on the heavy white wire. It had 12V (l aready knew that b/c we had 12V at the fuse panel). Scratched my head some more.... and realized that I had 2 options. Power or Ground.
Since NOTHING worked, it wasnt likely ground. Too many grounds for that to be the common problem. Only other logical item was power. But I had 12V. Question was - how much current? By now, I had pulled the gauge cluster and BAMM ! There was my answer ! A loose conection on the Amp meter. The connector had overheated (rusty connection?) and was creating an intermittment open.
I replaced the connection, cleaned off all the rust, tightened everything back up, and WAA-LAA ! And Vroom, too !. I wasn't thinking aboutt it initially, but ALL power goes thru the Amp meter, before it gets to the fuse panel. I had 12V, but not enough currrent - it's the current that makes it work, ya know! - to make anything work.
So, there. I fixed it.
And the fluctiating votage leveled off to 14.5V also.
I turned my daughteres car around, jumped the -40 and headed off to work. Amp meter sat on 0, bouncing slightly back and forth. I checked the battery at work, and it read 12V..? huh. Im only 6 miles away. Didnt think it'd charge that quick. Checked the alternator o/p - and it was steady climbing 12, 13, 14, 15... all the way to 17V ! I checked the Voltage Regulator, and did some searches here on Mud, and decided that I'd get a replacement, swap it in, and adjust the original so that I could have a spare.
Fast forward to yesterday. I'm at work, walk out and jump in the rig to head to an appointment. DEAD. No lights. When I got back, checked the battery, 12V. Load tested it - and still had 12V. No brake lights, no headlights, nothing.
Checked the fuses - good. Battery is good. Starter (used a long philllips) is good. Glenn @lextechautomotive said to check the connections to the ignition switch - they're good, still have 12V. Pulled the steering column cover, checked the actual ignition switch - and Ive got power to the ignition switch also. WHERE IS THE POWER GOING ?
I don't have a fusible link coming off of the battery - but I do have a connector in line on the heavy white wire. It had 12V (l aready knew that b/c we had 12V at the fuse panel). Scratched my head some more.... and realized that I had 2 options. Power or Ground.
Since NOTHING worked, it wasnt likely ground. Too many grounds for that to be the common problem. Only other logical item was power. But I had 12V. Question was - how much current? By now, I had pulled the gauge cluster and BAMM ! There was my answer ! A loose conection on the Amp meter. The connector had overheated (rusty connection?) and was creating an intermittment open.
I replaced the connection, cleaned off all the rust, tightened everything back up, and WAA-LAA ! And Vroom, too !. I wasn't thinking aboutt it initially, but ALL power goes thru the Amp meter, before it gets to the fuse panel. I had 12V, but not enough currrent - it's the current that makes it work, ya know! - to make anything work.
So, there. I fixed it.
And the fluctiating votage leveled off to 14.5V also.
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