I'm in the process of going ahead and installing the dual battery system that i've always put off. Part of the reason is i've been chasing some hard starting issues (electrical), weird battery drain (or possibly not getting adequate charging from Alt) and taking the opportunity to upgrade some of the old and brittle wiring. I've upgraded all the wires for the starter, ground wire and a lot more.
I have a larger alternator from the sequoia (unfortunately i don't recall the amperage on it) and I'm using a traditional lead acid battery for starting that i picked up from Costco about 5 months ago. Unfortunately since the truck has been sitting for about 3 months and the darn battery is low. I checked the voltage on it and it read 11.85V. I stuck it in the truck and put the charger on it while i finished connecting the rest of the wires for the starter battery to just get the truck to start up.
Started the truck with the charger connected and it started great. Looked down at the ultra gauge and it's only charging at 13.6V. I used my voltage meter on the battery while it's running to confirm that it was charging around 13.58V to 13.61V.
Normally when i would start the truck the voltage would jump up to 14.25V in the beginning and then slowly back down. This time it never got to 14.0V. I removed the battery charger and there was no change in the charge of the alternator.
My question is do you think this indicates a bad alternator or one on the way out? I also checked my belts because once a long time ago i had a similar issue and the belts were not tight on the alternator, i put new belts on and it charged like a champ. So the belts are tight and they are not too old, maybe 2 years.
I have a larger alternator from the sequoia (unfortunately i don't recall the amperage on it) and I'm using a traditional lead acid battery for starting that i picked up from Costco about 5 months ago. Unfortunately since the truck has been sitting for about 3 months and the darn battery is low. I checked the voltage on it and it read 11.85V. I stuck it in the truck and put the charger on it while i finished connecting the rest of the wires for the starter battery to just get the truck to start up.
Started the truck with the charger connected and it started great. Looked down at the ultra gauge and it's only charging at 13.6V. I used my voltage meter on the battery while it's running to confirm that it was charging around 13.58V to 13.61V.
Normally when i would start the truck the voltage would jump up to 14.25V in the beginning and then slowly back down. This time it never got to 14.0V. I removed the battery charger and there was no change in the charge of the alternator.
My question is do you think this indicates a bad alternator or one on the way out? I also checked my belts because once a long time ago i had a similar issue and the belts were not tight on the alternator, i put new belts on and it charged like a champ. So the belts are tight and they are not too old, maybe 2 years.