Quote:
Originally Posted by simpletoy
Thats exactly what it does is drain the battery but its quicker then overnight. Finally on the last ride I just ran the truck off the battery no alt at all and rode for like 5 hours on a fully charged battery. Ill have to get a meter to check that out
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If it does it consistently(like... every time you shut it off) then it should be pretty easy to feel the alternator wires for excessive heat from it rapidly discharging the battery. Feel the alternator casing for heat coming off of the diodes
Again, do this with your whole vehicle cold, it will be harder to figure out if the engine pre-heats up around the alternator:p Still possible but it is easier to get a good diagnosis if everything starts out at the same temp.
Charge the battery, let it sit for a short while to let it cool if it heated up at all from charging, then put it in the vehicle and put a volt meter on the battery. Monitor the voltage, it should stabilize out around 12.3v when it completely loses it's surface charge, but if you see it rapidly dropping below 12v and continuing to drop, it is discharging somewhere... and will be likely visible in the form of heat.
If you have time to kill, you can disconnect the alternator's heavy gauge positive wire and nothing else(keep the field control wire connected) and see if it drains again in a short period of time.
You're a little ways away but I will gladly help with diagnosing the problem for some wings and beer
