 |
 | Home | Contact Us | FAQ | Search & Site Map | Link to Us |
 | Sign In | Join | Other 45 Sites in Network |
Car Forum / Dodge / Dodge Cars / August 2004Dodge Problems
I have a 97 Dodge Ram 1500 Sport 4x4 with a 360 5.9 liter. The other day my GEN light came on and my voltage gauge is reading under 12 volts. I put a new alternator in and it didn't seem to fix the problem. I took it to a shop and that was just a screw job. they said I need to replace the alternator and the starter. I tried the whole removing of the battery cable and that killed the engine. I've heard that that trick doesn't work with the newer stuff, but now I'm not sure. I just spent $200 on a alternator. Can anyone help me? I don't want to take it to another shop, but I don't know what else to do. Any info would be very helpful, thanks Nathan Huber nathan_huber@pld.com sorry but it does sound to me like the new alternator is not good either. can't they test it for you like Autozone does? It is true that you can damage your computer by pulling the battery cables off while the engine is running but if the engine also dies then I would suspect the alternator. Heck, take it off again and bring it in to Autozone. They will check it for you free. > I have a 97 Dodge Ram 1500 Sport 4x4 with a 360 5.9 liter. The other day my > GEN light came on and my voltage gauge is reading under 12 volts. I put a [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > Nathan Huber > nathan_huber@pld.com Thanks for the input, but I took the new one back to Murray's and they tested it, and it tested good. My old one even tested good on their machine so I got my money back and reinstalled it. That's when I took it into a shop and they said my starter and the alternator. So I went to Pep Boys and got another new one and still doing the same thing. That means it's probably not the alternator. Nate > sorry but it does sound to me like the new alternator is not good either. > can't they test it for you like Autozone does? It is true that you can [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] > > Nathan Huber > > nathan_huber@pld.com > Thanks for the input, but I took the new one back to Murray's and they > tested it, and it tested good. My old one even tested good on their machine > so I got my money back and reinstalled it. That's when I took it into a > shop and they said my starter and the alternator. So I went to Pep Boys and > got another new one and still doing the same thing. That means it's > probably not the alternator. I'm not sure on your '97, but on my '99 1500/5.2 the alternator's field current (alternators use an electromagnet to generate the magnetic field the device needs to generate the current requirements to maintain the desired charging voltage) is controlled by the computer. The wiring between, or the computer itself may have failed. Also I believe there is a "alt. field current" (or something similar) fuse in the fuse box under the hood. Check to see if its blown - but I may have this confused with my Exploder. Also I believe there is a temperature sensor under the battery tray on my '99. I believe that tells the computer the proper voltage to charge the battery at (lead acid battery charge voltages vary from like 13.7v to 14.9v depending on the electrolite temperature) and I have no idea what the failure mode if this sensor fails. Try doing the on-off-on-off-on-off-on (is that right?) to see if there are any stored codes - I think there are some alternated-related codes that will not throw the CEL. Good luck, JS Finally bit the bullet and took it to a Dealer. Looks like there is an Alternator Fuse that I couldn't find that went out. They had to order it, and it'll be here tomorrow. Who knew that a fuse could cost $60? Anyway, I hope that is all they find since they have to fix that to move forward. Thanks for all the input everyone. Nate > sorry but it does sound to me like the new alternator is not good either. > can't they test it for you like Autozone does? It is true that you can [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] > > Nathan Huber > > nathan_huber@pld.com Tell them to keep the fuse, and go to a real auto parts store (other than PB and AZ) and buy one for $10.00  SignatureDudLee & Debbie Brennfoerder Edgar, NE 68935 > Finally bit the bullet and took it to a Dealer. Looks like there is an > Alternator Fuse that I couldn't find that went out. They had to order it, [quoted text clipped - 31 lines] > > > Nathan Huber > > > nathan_huber@pld.com |
Reply to this Message |
 Sign In
 Join
 My Latest Posts My Monitored Threads My Blog My Photo Gallery My Profile My Homepage Start New Thread Enable EMail Alerts Rate this Thread
|
©2008 Advenet LLC Privacy Policy - Terms of Use
This website includes both content owned or controlled by Advenet as well as content owned or controlled by third parties.