Hey Guys,
When I bought my "new" truck I noticed that the battery terminals were corroded. I cleaned them and the battery up and put it back. After a couple of weeks I can see where fluid has come out of the battery from the vents. I called the Ford dealer and they told me that battery issues were not covered under the 3 yr 36k warranty and I would have to replace the battery with my own money. I replaced the battery with a new 1000 cranking amp Interstate battery. The guy that sold me the battery said the Alternator might be overcharging based on the fluid coming out of the vents with the old battery. I watched the truck all day in engineering mode and the voltage stayed at about 14.6-14.7. I charged the battery when I got home to make sure that the alternator wasn't kicked up because the new battery was charging. It was full. It's still sitting at 14.6 after charging the battery. None of my lights are on or anything and its still putting out 14.6V at idle.
I'm going to drive it over to AutoZone and have it tested tonight but they only tell me if its good or bad. I'd like to know if there is an underlying issue (i.e. high resistance in one of the charging system wires).
I'd take it Ford but the dealer is 100 miles away and I would like to have a good idea of what is wrong before I take it in. They tend to lie to me about issues to keep from having to perform warranty service.
Another concern I have is that I believe the voltage regulation function is built into the computer, not the alternator anymore. Does anyone know if this is true?
If you have any suggestions of things to try please let me know.
Thanks
When I bought my "new" truck I noticed that the battery terminals were corroded. I cleaned them and the battery up and put it back. After a couple of weeks I can see where fluid has come out of the battery from the vents. I called the Ford dealer and they told me that battery issues were not covered under the 3 yr 36k warranty and I would have to replace the battery with my own money. I replaced the battery with a new 1000 cranking amp Interstate battery. The guy that sold me the battery said the Alternator might be overcharging based on the fluid coming out of the vents with the old battery. I watched the truck all day in engineering mode and the voltage stayed at about 14.6-14.7. I charged the battery when I got home to make sure that the alternator wasn't kicked up because the new battery was charging. It was full. It's still sitting at 14.6 after charging the battery. None of my lights are on or anything and its still putting out 14.6V at idle.
I'm going to drive it over to AutoZone and have it tested tonight but they only tell me if its good or bad. I'd like to know if there is an underlying issue (i.e. high resistance in one of the charging system wires).
I'd take it Ford but the dealer is 100 miles away and I would like to have a good idea of what is wrong before I take it in. They tend to lie to me about issues to keep from having to perform warranty service.
Another concern I have is that I believe the voltage regulation function is built into the computer, not the alternator anymore. Does anyone know if this is true?
If you have any suggestions of things to try please let me know.
Thanks
