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What exactly does the battery light on the Ranger indicate?
On Christmas day I had real problems with the electrical system. Barely made it to my sister's and toasted the battery in the process. Battery now reads 3V and putting it on a trickle charger made no difference. Never once did the battery light come on.
Replaced the battery and drove home. A couple of times the battery light flickered very lightly... but nothing more than a flickering and not for long. I doubt it was flickering for all of 10 seconds total over a 45 minute trip.
The voltage gauge on the other hand seems to work. On the trip there it went lower and lower. Really became a problem when the needle dropped below the normal range. On the way back it stayed in the lower end of the normal range.
Replaced the battery, alternator, and fan belt. The old alternator makes a clicking noise when you spin it.
The battery now reads 12.95 disconnected and 15.2 under low idle load. Seems a bit high to me, but the difference is less than 2.5 volts so it isn't overcharging?
I also had to disconnect the DRL module since it wasn't working and was causing the high beams to come on when I turned off the truck. Could it have not liked the low voltage?
So everything seems to be working fine. Truck runs great again. Voltage reads correctly. Everything else seems normal.
But now the battery light goes on and off at random intervals. I can start the truck and pull the +ve cable from the battery and the truck keeps running fine.
Any ideas? The battery light didn't come on when the alternator toasted. Didn't come on when the battery was basically dead. Never came on before this problem. And now comes on with a new battery and alternator.
On Christmas day I had real problems with the electrical system. Barely made it to my sister's and toasted the battery in the process. Battery now reads 3V and putting it on a trickle charger made no difference. Never once did the battery light come on.
Replaced the battery and drove home. A couple of times the battery light flickered very lightly... but nothing more than a flickering and not for long. I doubt it was flickering for all of 10 seconds total over a 45 minute trip.
The voltage gauge on the other hand seems to work. On the trip there it went lower and lower. Really became a problem when the needle dropped below the normal range. On the way back it stayed in the lower end of the normal range.
Replaced the battery, alternator, and fan belt. The old alternator makes a clicking noise when you spin it.
The battery now reads 12.95 disconnected and 15.2 under low idle load. Seems a bit high to me, but the difference is less than 2.5 volts so it isn't overcharging?
I also had to disconnect the DRL module since it wasn't working and was causing the high beams to come on when I turned off the truck. Could it have not liked the low voltage?
So everything seems to be working fine. Truck runs great again. Voltage reads correctly. Everything else seems normal.
But now the battery light goes on and off at random intervals. I can start the truck and pull the +ve cable from the battery and the truck keeps running fine.
Any ideas? The battery light didn't come on when the alternator toasted. Didn't come on when the battery was basically dead. Never came on before this problem. And now comes on with a new battery and alternator.
