truck battery light March 12, 2012, 06:19:14 pm Yahoo Message Number: 129091After driving a very jarring 13 miles on the "graded but unpaved" Black Canyon Road (which gives new meaning to the description washboard road) in the Mojave National Preserve my battery icon lights up on the dashboard. The Ford manual says the battery is not charging. All connections at the terminals are secure and the battery seems to be working fine. Any ideas what I did and how to fix it? Thanks.Mike Liner '08 24' FL
Re: stuck in the desert Reply #1 – March 13, 2012, 12:23:28 am Yahoo Message Number: 129101"After driving a very jarring 13 miles on the 'graded but unpaved' Black Canyon Road... in the Mojave National Preserve, my battery icon lights up on the dashboard. The Ford manual says the battery is not charging. All connections at the terminals are secure and the battery seems to be working fine. Any ideas what I did and how to fix it?" Hey, folks, this sounds like a serious situation for Mike. If his battery isn't charging, he might not be able to make it out of the remote area he's in now. Can anybody help? I can suggest this as a last resort: jumper your isolator so the coach batteries are tied to the engine battery, then run the generator while you drive, so that it's charging all three batteries. But that's a desperation measure. Surely somebody here can suggest a troubleshooting procedure. How about it, folks?Andy Baird http://www.andybaird.com/travels/
Re: stuck in the desert Reply #2 – March 13, 2012, 12:30:20 am Yahoo Message Number: 129103Quote "Hey, folks, this sounds like a serious situation for Mike. If his battery isn't charging, he might not be able to make it out of the remote area he's in now. Can anybody help?"Andy Baird Andy & Mike Can't offer any help but it sounds like what happened when my alternator took a dump. Stratkus fixed it!Steve S. Lazy Bones & Jiggs
Re: truck battery light Reply #3 – March 13, 2012, 12:43:39 am Yahoo Message Number: 129104Mike -Do you have voltmeter or any way to verify the alternator isn't charging? It should be 13+ volts when the engine is running -On top of the alternator, there is a plug, coming from the computer, that can come loose. You have to pull the air cleaner to access it. It snaps in. -With the engine running, can you see the alternator turning? -Check the battery isolator, under the hood, on the driver's side. Make sure the the three big wires are secured. You could have a defective isolator. Output from the alternator goes directly to the isolator. A burned out diode, in the isolator, on the chassis side, would show up as a defective or not charging battery indicator. Worse case scenario, jumper the isolator and drive on the coach battery, which should be good for several hours or indefinitely, with the generator running.Larry
Re: truck battery light Reply #4 – March 13, 2012, 01:47:20 am Yahoo Message Number: 129107Sounds like an alternator problem. With an '08 it may be time to replace it. Larry gives good advice above. If you have a voltmeter, test to see if the battery is actually charging. If it is not, you should endeavor to get back to a garage in civilization asap. You can use the house batteries as a backup...plus, if you have a generator or a solar panel on your rig, you can stop moving and recharge the battery that way or travel down the road with the generator running. But inn order to do that, you must circumvent the isolator. If you need to do that let us know & we'll post more help.Please let us know what happens. Good luck.
Re: stuck in the desert Reply #5 – March 14, 2012, 08:42:22 pm Yahoo Message Number: 129160Quote "After driving a very jarring 13 miles on the 'graded but unpaved' Black Canyon Road... in the Mojave National Preserve, my battery icon lights up on the dashboard. The Ford manual says the battery is not charging. > I can suggest this as a last resort: jumper your isolator so the coach batteries are tied to the engine battery, then run the generator while you drive, so that it's charging all three batteries. But that's a desperation measure. Surely somebody here can suggest a troubleshooting procedure. How about it, folks?Quote Andy Baird http://www.andybaird.com/travels/ I had an alternator that shot craps and the indicator was that the battery wasn't charging. I went another 400 miles by periodically stopping and using the generator to power my portable battery charger and recharging the battery. I would run another 100 miles or so and repeat the process.It was a little time consuming but it got me to the repair shop.Terry R 2005 TK
Topic: truck battery light (Read 3 times)
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Topic: truck battery light (Read 3 times)
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