1sr problem - Twin alts both quit but now work?

[SoCalDieselNewbie]

I have factory dual alternators on my 3500.

On Sat, leaving the the Ucla/Oregon game (Fire Bob Toledo now!), I drive off.

Every now and then the battery light would flick on and then off.

I looked at the Voltage gauge and it looked like it was at 11 volts.

After driving around a bit like this, the battery light came on full time.

Anyway, got home, busted out the other vechile hooked up the boat and went fishing.

Start the truck up today, Volt meter fluctuates in the 13-14 volt range... no battery light... looks ok.

I am think that it is probably a short or loose connection... I'll take it to the dealer tomorrow. I seriously doubt that alternators are dying with 20,000 miles on the truck but... who knows...

Anybody elese have this happen?

[thechevyhdman]

The only thing i could add to your question is make sure you have a good clean, tight ground from the alternators, thats the only thing I could see making the battery light go down, Or maybe you were using a power invertor in your truck to light up Candlestick Park tongue.gif

[mdrag]

SoCalDieselNewbie,

I agree with chevyhdman - check all the battery and alt connections to make sure they are good.

When my aftermarket alarm was installed, I was experiencing similar problems with the battery light coming on - this was before I installed the dual alts. It turned out that the installer used accessory taps on the side terminals. One of the bolts was too long and would bottom out before the battery ground made good contact even though the bolt was tight - it would ground on and off causing intermittent problems. I replaced the bolt with a shorter one and no problems since.

Make sure the battery connections are tight AND try moving the cables near the battery. Good luck.