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Alternator diode heat

Mopar1973Man
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Mopar1973Man

Mopar1973Man

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The grid heater do not ground through the body. That is insulated by ceramic or something. The ground is the lead bolted down on the front side. The twin studs are your power leads. 

 

Typically the only time both grid heaters are hot is during the pre-heat cycle for 190 Amp draw. After the engine is started then it's typically only one element running for 95 Amp draw. (Thinking out loud and educated guessing) I wonder if there is a weird ground issue or problem where its possible for both solenoids to fire during the post heat cycle? 

 

Selection_107.png

 

Yellow/Black and the Orange/Black go back to the ECM and supply the positive signal to fire the solenoids. According to the Dodge FSM the G115 is a direct connection with the battery ground. Assuming on the driver side. Still in all, there is the joint connector in the PDC (weak connection, bad ground point?)

 

To get information correct. I'm going to have to test and see what lead (OR/BLK and YEL/BLK) does what during what time (pre or post heat). Verify my ground to the battery is good from point to point. (Solenoid to the joint connector and then on to the battery). Verify the voltage at the solenoid is actually 12V (which it should be). Then ohm test the grid heater as well to see what I get for measurement for @IBMobile .

 

@W-T gave us the ground wire mod now I'm going to get the grid heater fix. (or at least a good attempt too...)

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Mopar1973Man

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6 minutes ago, dave110 said:

What is the #6 or so sized wire that runs from the intake horn bolt down to the side of the grid heater body then?

 

Ground wire. 

6 minutes ago, dave110 said:

Or is my truck the only one that has it?

 

All truck have this one wire in the front that fastened to the grid heater mounting bolt. Yeah, its the ground wire. The two wires on the rear are the power wires from the solenoids.

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dave110

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20 minutes ago, Mopar1973Man said:

The grid heater do not ground through the body. That is insulated by ceramic or something. The ground is the lead bolted down on the front side. The twin studs are your power leads. 

 

1 minute ago, Mopar1973Man said:

 

Ground wire. 

 

All truck have this one wire in the front that fastened to the grid heater mounting bolt. Yeah, its the ground wire. The two wires on the rear are the power wires from the solenoids.

 

 

9 minutes ago, dave110 said:

What is the #6 or so sized wire that runs from the intake horn bolt down to the side of the grid heater body then? Or is my truck the only one that has it? I'll have to look closer and get a pic tomorrow. 

Now I'm confused. You say it's not the ground but it is.:think:

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Mopar1973Man

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There grid heater technically is not grounded there it own body. The aluminum housing that holds the element. There is a single stud that passes out of the aluminum body and this stud is on the front side of the grid heater. Single lead looped around to the inside front mounting bolt. Being the gaskets between the manifold to the grid heater and the grid heater to the air horn there is no contact for ground. So to prevent arcing from weak ground this lead on the front is added to give a solid ground for the grid heaters. 

 

This is the ground for the grid heater.

DSCF4490.JPG

 

The two studs on the back at the two power leads. 

DSCF4491.JPG

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dripley

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2 minutes ago, Mopar1973Man said:

There grid heater technically is not grounded there it own body. The aluminum housing that holds the element. There is a single stud that passes out of the aluminum body and this stud is on the front side of the grid heater. Single lead looped around to the inside front mounting bolt. Being the gaskets between the manifold to the grid heater and the grid heater to the air horn there is no contact for ground. So to prevent arcing from weak ground this lead on the front is added to give a solid ground for the grid heaters. 

 

This is the ground for the grid heater.

DSCF4490.JPG

 

The two studs on the back at the two power leads. 

DSCF4491.JPG

That is the ground we have been talking about. Not the ground for the solenoids just the heaters. Am I missing something?

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NIsaacs

NIsaacs

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9 hours ago, Mopar1973Man said:

 

That is true if I unhook the grid heater the diodes stay very cool. 

 

Still, back the problem why did I get 10 plus years of service from the alternator with no issues. Now diodes are constantly overheating and failing? What has changed about the grid heaters to make the diodes overheat? Never had that issue with the truck brand new. 

 

Are you rebuilding your alternator or buying a rebuilt?

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NIsaacs

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There is way more to an alternator than a diode. How much does it cost to keep rebuilding yours? Napa has a lifetime warrantee on theirs for $102. With that said, I keep my receipt close at hand. My oem died 1.5 years ago. It looked really nasty so I just got a rebuilt. I like the fact that no mater where you travel, there is a Napa close by.

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