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WTF!! Radiator hose/antifreeze/severe electricl spike


R***A**N**G**E***R

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 3, 2009
Messages
475
Vehicle Year
1996
Transmission
Automatic
Ok so i was sitting in my truck and just started it up and I heard a slight alternator type wine and instantly smelled antifreeze so I shut it off immediately and get out and pop the hood and I see some antifreeze had sprayed on the alternator and several other parts of my engine, it was actually very little because the truck was not hot and I shut it off immediately.

I then discovered that my top radiator hose has a half inch hole in it and the hole sits about 2 inches and right behind the alternator so I am assuming antifreeze shot right in the alternator when the hose blew.

So I run to town, get a new hose and fire up the truck and now my lights when I step on the gas get STUPID,CRAZY ASS BRIGHT and my needle for my battery gauge in the dash spikes to the ( H mark ) or high mark and my battery light will come on along with my abs sensor light.

When I let it idle or turn everything ON my needle drops to normal and the battery light goes out.

I have never experienced ( TO MUCH ELECTRICITY ) when something went wrong, it was always things would get DIM and the needle would slowly start to drop and the battery gauge because the alternator just went out or your battery took a dump.

Here is a picture of my battery gauge and battery light and a short cell phone video of what it is doing.

I did take it to the car wash after i installed the new hose so I could rinse all the antifreeze of the engine,but it was a quick rinse.

So is my alternator fried in the OPPOSITE then normal type of an alternator going out? Did that make sense? lol

Any expert help would be greatly appreciated!!!!!

840A1093.jpg


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nB_InUSVLaY
 
I would pull your alternator and have it tested - the antifreeze probably shorted out the voltage regulator. If it tests bad, take it to an electrical shop that repairs electric motors and have them clean it up.
 
Shran said:
I would pull your alternator and have it tested - the antifreeze probably shorted out the voltage regulator. If it tests bad, take it to an electrical shop that repairs electric motors and have them clean it up.
Click to expand...

Can driving the truck like this RUIN anything? I want to drive it to town to get the alternator tested while on the truck while running.

I mean last time my alternator went out it did just the OPPOSITE and ran ONLY on my battery till my battery was almost dead by the time I got home.
 
The indicator on the dash is giving you a true "Test Reading". DO NOT DRIVE LIKE THIS!!!
You may damage all sorts of electrical stuff and you run the risk of causing an underhood fire. Serious, stop the truck.
The alt is putting out unregulated voltage. Thats why everything is so bright. If you run like this, you may be sorry later.
 
Last edited:
you will break stuff like that. burn up bulbs, modules, kill wires, pop fuses, and destroy the battery. Yeah, you can damage the truck like that.
 
No, not may ... you WILL ruin wiring and other parts in the electrical system.

These alternators put out 3 phase power, and can supply 80 to 130 amps (standard alternators on rangers is 95 amps) or more. Think about the fact that most wiring is less than 16 gauge in these trucks. 80 or more amps can liquefy wires and cause fires with 16 gauge wires, to say nothing about 12 or 14 gauge wires.
 
Last edited:
um, 12 and 14 is bigger than 16.
 
It's so obvious!

This is the side effect from disconnecting your battery with the truck running to test your alternator!






Sorry mate, I had to. :) Good luck with the fix. :icon_cheers:
 
+1.

That could be it too, but I'd guess its the anti-freeze since that just happened.
 
Well after sitting over night I went out to start it and everything is back to normal:icon_confused:
 
maybe she dried out.
 
I'd probably want to try taking it apart and blowing it out with compressed air.
 
I've never had a problem like that from an alt getting wet. I've degreased and washed the engine bay of several of my trucks (never used a car wash to do it though, just a hose) and never started the truck till everything dried good. Never bothered covering my alt or battery or any of that either.

Of course, I've never squirted antifreeze into my alt....

I have, however, shot electrical motor contact cleaner into an alt that wasn't working quite right after ingesting a lot of mud. I've had a 50/50 success ratio with that.
 
I took it to advance auto and they put it on the bench tester and after a couple tries it started to push WAYYYYYYYYY to much amps.

So it's shot BUT under warranty:yahoo:
 
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