Alternator...I think?

[Mighty Dodge Ram]

Parked the truck and came back to it in about 30 minutes. No start...nothing. Zip, zilch, zero, nada. Not surprised, the battery was ancient and I had gotten more than my money's worth out of that little Interstate. Called AAA and they came out and jumped it. It was a reluctant jump. The truck would start (barely) but wouldn't idle and kept dying. It would run if I kept the RPMs up, though.

Had it towed to Sears, bought a Die Hard Platinum :sombrero: and much the same thing happened. So I actually drove it back to my mechanic's shop, keeping the RPMs up and using coordinated braking and accelerator. I'll speak with my mechanic first thing Monday morning but...any ideas? By the way...replaced the serpentine belt last weekend. Coincidence?

 

[chilliwak]

I am thinking you have a problem with you ignition system....

 

[MicroBird]

The problem with your truck is you went to the thieves at Sears. They could have checked your charging system right then. Maybe your old battery wasn't bad.

 

[Hopeless Diamond]

You're probably on the right track with the alternator. Check all of your cables too, it's amazing how corrosion can get into them under the insulation. If the battery was that old, you might have some bad connections in the system too

 

[Mighty Dodge Ram]

Thanks for the replies. When I parked the truck at the shop, it actually began to idle a bit better. In searching the web, I found several posts stating that the "computer" sometimes has to reset and that it can take up to 5 minutes of rough idling for that to happen. In the meantime, my stepson asked to use my DD to get to school. So I went and picked the truck up, drove it home, and will take it in to be checked out tomorrow. Weird.

Re: the thieves at SEARS. Ya, that's why I just bought the battery and got out of there. Very friendly but interesting crew. But I've read and heard so many good things about the DH Platinum (Odyssey re-branded) that if I was going to spend money on a new battery I wanted the DH. I'll let my mechanic check out the system. :sombrero: And yes...new clamps are in order. Any suggestions?

 

[AA1PR]

if you remove the positive terminal from the battery with the truck running & it dies

it most likely is the alternator

thats the simplest way to tell quick like

 

[BCHauler]

Been there, done that on the corroded battery cables. Cables can look fine but be bad under the sleeve. Can cause all sorts of strange behavior. Funny enough it was a big chain store that eventually figured it out.

 

[rvazquez]

DO NOT check the alternator by removing the battery cable while it is running. You can cause a power surge that could damage the electronics in the vehicle.

I have been surprised at how bad a vehicle can run after the battery is disconnected and the computer resets. There are devices which you plug into the cigarette lighter that supply power while the battery is disconnected to save the computer's memory.

 

[MicroBird]

A store like OReillys will check your charging system for free. At least they did a couple of years ago. You shouldn't replace anything until you know what's wrong. Good way to waste money.

 

[Motor16]

Definitely be easiest to diagnosis with a meter - saves lotsa hair pulling and part swapping. Good luck with it!