Time for a new Alternator

[Marcus2000monster]

Didn’t read the whole thing but there’s a host of good info here. I’m sort of tempted to disconnect my grids at the battery’s and only using them when it’s below 20 degrees to help relieve the alternator. I usually have my truck plugged in in the winter time anyway. Is this a good idea to do? 

[Mopar1973Man]

11 minutes ago, Marcus2000monster said:

Didn’t read the whole thing but there’s a host of good info here. I’m sort of tempted to disconnect my grids at the battery’s and only using them when it’s below 20 degrees to help relieve the alternator. I usually have my truck plugged in in the winter time anyway. Is this a good idea to do? 

 

Currently I've got my grid heaters disconnected. I've got the truck plugged in just about one hour before starting. No issues. I'm starting out at +9*F this morning but heading into minus weather in New Meadows, ID. In about 50 minutes I'm gone...

[dave110]

13 hours ago, s10010001 said:

Ohh lookie what showed up! 

 

. That will be my next alternator should I ever need one again. That or something similar to it.

[wh82]

4 hours ago, Mopar1973Man said:

You need to meet @W-T you both are a two peas in a pod.

Just looked closer at some of his posts, he knows his stuff. And in one he mentioned capacitors filter, which is what i was trying to say, he said it better.

 

Noticed this other question I missed yesterday earlier in this thread:

is it possible for the alternator to make more noise Intermittently, or is purely on load? 

 

yes, the characteristics of many things including diodes and even the inductance of the coils change based on temperature.

yes, load can increase the field strength but the regulator should keep the amplitude of the AC within a range so it should change much.

there's another component here, frequency, the faster the alternator is spinning the frequency changes, which can effect how much leaks out in the method I've been describing, not through the diodes but through the casing, a higher frequency has a higher chance of making it through the little vent holes and onto the close-by wire. So that RPM impacts the noise frequency which mixed with all the other RPM sensors your computer is trying to read and hello issue. So this could completely appear intermittent but really its just everything needs to be in the right conditions, load, temperature, frequency, other vehicle components, etc..

 

Anyway, I think I've beat the topic up enough.

[Dieselfuture]

Why is there 4 remote wires for grids @Mopar1973Man

[dripley]

11 hours ago, Marcus2000monster said:

Didn’t read the whole thing but there’s a host of good info here. I’m sort of tempted to disconnect my grids at the battery’s and only using them when it’s below 20 degrees to help relieve the alternator. I usually have my truck plugged in in the winter time anyway. Is this a good idea to do? 

Plugging it in is good, but you dont need it plugged in all night by any means. While the temps here in Maryland were down in the low teens it only took 30 or 40 minutes to get the block up to 60 degrees or so. You can leave on longer and get up around 90 IIRC but you dont have to.

[Marcus2000monster]

1 hour ago, dripley said:

Plugging it in is good, but you dont need it plugged in all night by any means. While the temps here in Maryland were down in the low teens it only took 30 or 40 minutes to get the block up to 60 degrees or so. You can leave on longer and get up around 90 IIRC but you dont have to.

I have it on a timer.... 

[Mopar1973Man]

6 hours ago, Dieselfuture said:

Why is there 4 remote wires for grids @Mopar1973Man

 

ECM controls the 2 positives. Then the other two are just ground in the PDC. Problem remove any trigger wires the ECM will see it and trip P0380 or P0382 and CEL. This is why I just unhook the BATT power lead and forget it. ECM is happy and no error codes and no CEL. 

[Marcus2000monster]

When I get my truck running again I want to test for ac noise again since I got a new multimeter. I have a hunch that iv got plenty of noise coming out....

[Dieselfuture]

7 hours ago, Mopar1973Man said:

 

ECM controls the 2 positives. Then the other two are just ground in the PDC. Problem remove any trigger wires the ECM will see it and trip P0380 or P0382 and CEL. This is why I just unhook the BATT power lead and forget it. ECM is happy and no error codes and no CEL. 

You know what it's the simple things, now that you mentioned it I completely forgot about ground for a trigger. Being Brown ground and positive are next to each other got me confused. I was thinking why would you need to trigger wires for each relay, maybe I was assuming they get round from the body. But makes perfect sense now thank you. 

Did anyone think of put in the heavy duty relay for a power lead to the battery, so they can be switched on in the cab. Or would it be just a mess.

[s10010001]

2 hours ago, Dieselfuture said:

Did anyone think of put in the heavy duty relay for a power lead to the battery, so they can be switched on in the cab. Or would it be just a mess.

 

My guess is it would be a mess, but it depends on use case. I’ll bet more often than not, you need them or don’t. For me I’ll need them so infrequently I’ll just pop the hood and hook them back up. 

[Mopar1973Man]

2 hours ago, Dieselfuture said:

Did anyone think of put in the heavy duty relay for a power lead to the battery, so they can be switched on in the cab.

 

A few have gone this way but it does produce a mess. More wiring under the hood and more wiring into the cab. 

 

Personally, I want to solve the puzzle and have everything back the way it was when I bought the truck in 2002 everything work correctly and there weren't any wiring hacks to make things work.

[dave110]

12 hours ago, Dieselfuture said:

You know what it's the simple things, now that you mentioned it I completely forgot about ground for a trigger. Being Brown ground and positive are next to each other got me confused. I was thinking why would you need to trigger wires for each relay, maybe I was assuming they get round from the body. But makes perfect sense now thank you. 

Did anyone think of put in the heavy duty relay for a power lead to the battery, so they can be switched on in the cab. Or would it be just a mess.

OK, I'll say it one more time. I have the grounds to the relays switched and it does NOT produce a CEL. @s10010001 confirmed this. It does produce the 2 codes mentioned and you may or not care about this. I do not. I have thought about a second set of relays and using one set for the manual set and leaving the OEM alone to keep the ECM happy. But again the hidden codes are not a deal for me so why bother with the extra relays. If I needed to get a smog check I would simply turn the switch on, reset the codes, do a few drive cycles, get smogged and then turn the switch off again. I don't want to have to pop the hood and hook 2 wires up every morning in the winter so this way is just much easier for me. To each thier own.

[Dieselfuture]

1 hour ago, dave110 said:

OK, I'll say it one more time.

Thank you, originally I thought you had big ground wires on a switch, I didn't want to go that route without a massive relay or like you said a second set of relays. So now that you've mentioned it again that you have small ground wires to trigger relay on a switch, makes more sense. I'm a slow learner because I'm I am hurry most of time and pay the price for it too sometimes. 

Is switch sufficient enough for trigger wires or is it better to put them both on a relay, maybe even tie them together on one relay.

[s10010001]

I think if I absolutely wanted mine on a switch I would do one of those massive high amp switches right inline with the wire going to the battery. That would make it really easy to make it "OEM automatic" if I was in colder weather temporarily. Still have to pop the hood, but for me thats no big deal. 

Edited March 1, 2018 by s10010001

[dave110]

53 minutes ago, Dieselfuture said:

Thank you, originally I thought you had big ground wires on a switch, I didn't want to go that route without a massive relay or like you said a second set of relays. So now that you've mentioned it again that you have small ground wires to trigger relay on a switch, makes more sense. I'm a slow learner because I'm I am hurry most of time and pay the price for it too sometimes. 

Is switch sufficient enough for trigger wires or is it better to put them both on a relay, maybe even tie them together on one relay.

Sorry if I sounded brash in my reply. We keep going around about the CEL coming on. I have the relay grounds switched so there's not a big power draw going through the switch and I don't have to worry about possible surge to the ECM like you might get if switching the power leads. Someone else brought that up and while I don't quite get that, it does kind of make sense. You can get a set of original style relays on E-Bay for like $70 on an original style bracket that could be easily adapted without a whole lot of clutter. But like I said for me just switching the original makes more sense to me personally.  

Edited March 1, 2018 by dave110

[s10010001]

Updating this thread too in in case someone is searching here and see this. 

 

Go to the Nations alternator in today. .012. Pretty good. 

 

I did have to drill the charge lead hole a bit bigger, but it was quick and easy.