jason191918

So this past weekend I replaced the power steering pump, which required me to remove my battery and spill a lot of fluid...

Anyway, on my way to my GF's I noticed that my volt gage was a lil low. A few minutes later it was back to normal. About an hour later I drove back to my apartment. About 30 min into my drive I notice my volt gage was back to where it was earlier (a below normal, but above turning on the idiot light). 20 min later it got to the point that I had to turn off my radio, then 10 min later the gage dropped to the middle line and the parking brake and battery light came on. Now the high beams have to stay off. I finally made it to the gas station across from my apartment to take a gander. (The trip was about an hour fifteen.) Everything looked fine. I checked the voltage and it was 11.44V...a little low, but not terrible. It started a lil rough, but started nonetheless. I drove across the street to my apartment and pulled my battery out. With the engine off the voltage would slowly go up. It peeked at 11.6ish. I checked all my wires and what not, but it seemed fine. I dropped the battery back in and went for a ride. I stopped at the grocery store about a mile away and checked the voltage. It was now under 10V. I headed back to my apartment and ended up coasting in because the battery was dead.

I check the belts and all were fine and dry. The alternator was replaced about 2-3 years ago.

Any idea what is going on?

(sorry for long post)

PS Congrats to Toyota for winning their first NASCAR race!

stupid_mud_gremlins

charge your battery, start your truck, and pull the + battery cable. If it dies right away, I'd blame the alternator (needs to provide enough power to run the vehicle and charge what has been used from the battery starting)

jason191918

I'll try that tomorrow. I have a ride to work lined up and plan on charging the battery then. I just assumed that it was related to my changing the pump/pulling the battery this weekend. I didn't think it would be this, because when my alternator died last time the battery died immediately, and it was much older than this one. If I have too much stuff hooked up, could it shorten the life of my alternator? (Plow, amp, 4 110W KC's, etc....)

apalmer1

If you run all of those accessories at once most likely the stock replacement alt will not have a high enough amperage output to charge, but if they are all off it shouldnt affect it and it shouldnt shorten its life. I would just use a voltmeter and check the voltage when teh engine is running from the negative battery terminal to the positive lug on the alternator. See if that is higher then the voltage at the battery terminals, if it is then youve got some resistance somewhere inbetween the two. You might want to check the resistance across the power steering pump aswell. Perhaps if you installed another pump it could have bad internals out of the box and its making it suck up all your amperage.

jason191918

What does the pump have to do with anything electrical?

jason191918

I forgot to mention that once I got to my apartment my temp gage showed slightly under normal. Not sure if it actually was or if it was just an electrical problem. By then my tach was bouncing up and down as well...

stupid_mud_gremlins

Maybe you have a bad ground on the battery, have you tried cleaning your posts?

jason191918

Yes. Thank you for the help guys. Keep em comin.

bwhyit

Try to recharge the battery but if you can't get it back up to 12.6 then replace it because it's bad. You said you spilled some fluid when you took the battery out? Was that the battery electrolyte? If so did you refill it with electrolyte or water? If you dumped some of the acid out and just replaced it with water then that’s your batter problem. As for checking your alternator USE A VOTE METER! Removing the battery cable while the engine is running is an OLD method that should only be used on engines without electronic engine controls. If you try removing the cable on your truck with it running you could very well ruin your alternator if it’s not bad already.

You problem sounds like the battery that also ruined your alternator.

shansethp

jason, apalmer 1 explained it.........if your powersteering pump has bad internals......say the bearing is grabbing or dragging or whatever it could be causing it to draw more juice than it should.......thats what palmer was trying to tell ya!

jason191918

I meant that I spilled some PS fluid while removing the pump, flushing, and refilling. The battery is fine as far as fluid goes. How would I check my alternator with a multimeter? The voltage across the posts is the same as the voltage from the + to a ground. Does this work or should I go from the alternator to a ground?

jason191918

After a day of charge it is at 12.7V.

jason191918

I put in the now charged battery and started 'er up. Started fine, but the battery light is still on when the engine is at idle (is there a code that can be pulled here?). I checked the voltage from the alternator stud to ground. The first time I had 14.X volts and the second time I had 18.X volts. I drove to NAPA and they tested the battery. That had the same voltage at the battery as my tester. It also said that the battery was good, but that it was low...makes sense so far. Then he did a test where the meter will read whatever voltage is higher between the battery and the charging system, to see if the charging system is working. The number stayed the same meaning the charging system is not working. I repeated the earlier test that I did and was still getting 18.X volts. The guy at number was confused and called a friend of his. This other guy said the voltage regulator is whack (because of the 18.X volts), and that the lead from the regulator to the battery is fried...makes sense. I checked the 80 amp ALT fuse and it is fine. I checked the continuity from the alternator to the fuse and that is fine. I checked the continuity from the fuse to the battery and that was fine, and I also checked the continuity from the alternator to the battery...also fine.

Any idea what is going on here?

I ordered the regulator because I decided that is fried either way. Maybe that will just fix the problem, but one would think his meter would also show 18.X volts at the battery.

jason191918

bwhyit

I would say regulator also. Can't think of anything else that would cause an 18v charge. If I were you I'd invest in a higher amp alternator. All those accessories are going to kill you stock one.

jason191918

I decided to just go with the alternator instead of trying to be cheap. I threw one in today and in the first mile my battery went from 12.nothing to 14.4.

Thanks guys.