Will a bad battery a trigger a no charge problem ?

[1951M1078]

Just had a 20 volt reading on the dash. Then it was back to 26? Next start poor. Lots of clicking then a crank ?
Now back to low charge.

Still need to trouble shoot.

Ideas ? Will a bad battery start this ?

Thanks, Randy

 

[DiverDarrell]

Yes. I had 2 bad batteries truck wouldn’t start. I rigged it up to run on 2 batteries. Truck started no problem, and didn’t need to charge the batteries first.

 

[Karl kostman]

DriverDarrell is exactly right, if you get to bad batteries even if they show 12.4 volts on your meter it means almost nothing. The only way to truly test any battery we get on our trucks is to charge up the batteries than load test them one at a time, the batteries that are bad get rid of because they are worth nothing but trade in!
Karl

 

[1951M1078]

Let me restate it. Can a poor battery keep the 24 volt side from turning on ?
I just need to do the testing and see where I'm at.

 

[DiverDarrell]

It will show 24v. Until a load is applied and then not enough amps to turn the engine over.

 

[1951M1078]

Its more a question of, does the Alt. need a good 24+ volt supply to turn on ?

 

[Priapism]

Its more a question of, does the Alt. need a good 24+ volt supply to turn on ?

I dont think 1 battery will drag it down. I am fighting through this now myself. Took my truck for a drive the voltmeter started at 28v by the end of a 20min drive the voltmeter was down to 25v. Went out 2hrs later back to 28v. Just went out a week later and was at 20v. Truck started right up.This is what I found: All battery cells were low on water. Facing the battery box I found that battery 1 (forward and inside) was at 10.5v and was the lowest voltage. The rest were 12.6v or just a hair higher. I put battery 1 on the charger with no issues. No battery's were bulging or cracked.The weird thing I've noticed is a a lot of moisture in the battery box? Anyone have this issue?

 

[DiverDarrell]

Alt needs 24v to start its field. Supman is the expert on alts. First thing he always suggest is to jump over 24v from the fuel solinoide to the 24v tap on the voltage regulator.

 

[DiverDarrell]

I’d pull each battery charge and load test and also check with a hydramiture. If the fluid comes out grey you know for sure the lead is dissolving. Check voltages with a multimeter our guages in the trucks are about as truthful as DC politics

 

[DiverDarrell]

For what’s its worth on my charging issue saga, I replaced the voltage regulator, taped the batteries for 24v just to be sure, replaced the alt, all to find out that the last person to hook up the alt reversed the pos and neg leads on the alt. The battery protection box did its job thankfully, after a ton of money my fix was as simple as a cable swap

 

[1951M1078]

Thanks Guy's. I will start my repair in the AM with luck.

Randy

 

[mechanicjim]

Yes the alt won't power up unless its got a good 24v at the B+ terminals and also on the IGN terminal on the regulator(the stud with the red plastic generally). if your worried your alt is bad and want to troubleshoot it and you have the C.E.Niehoff units go to their website click "Service and Support" and then troubleshooting guides and look for your model unit, there's a name plate on the alt that says which model.

 

[1951M1078]

Did the test and I have 24.44 volts a (E) = bad regulator.

Do they just go bad out of the blue ?

 

[Guyfang]

For what’s its worth on my charging issue saga, I replaced the voltage regulator, taped the batteries for 24v just to be sure, replaced the alt, all to find out that the last person to hook up the alt reversed the pos and neg leads on the alt. The battery protection box did its job thankfully, after a ton of money my fix was as simple as a cable swap

Trust no one but yourself. If you haven't checked it, don't bet the farm. Most electrical problems I have worked on, we're when someone else "fixed" it.