charging system, help me

[juggalomania92]

alright so if i sit my truck for a while, it wont want to start but after a few minutes it will start if i hold the key. however once its started, the gauges is in the normal range with the lights on radar detector on and radio on, but if i turn on the heater it drops the gauge significantly, i have no idea what to check, there was a lot of corrosion on the positive terminal and the negative so i think im gonna change them tomorrow but is that the problem? let me know please

 

[shane96ranger]

there was a lot of corrosion on the positive terminal and the negative so i think im gonna change them tomorrow

I think you answered your own problem here. Be sure to clean the battery posts and the terminals even though they are new. I've had some not connect well until I did that.

 

[kimcrwbr1]

Clean all the grounds and battery terminals but read tis all the way through first it will tell you what you need to do to check the charging system. http://www.therangerstation.com/tech_library/chargingsystem.htm

 

[juggalomania92]

i changed the terminals on the battery and tested the alternator and it was fine but still when i turn the heater on the battery gauge drops to the lowest point of the word normal

 

[Duane867]

Did you test the alternator at the alternators terminals with a load on it?

 

[juggalomania92]

okay so the problem is fixed i changed the terminals and added distilled water to the batter for now and everything is charging fine just a little lower than im used to (still normal so ill just wait and see)

 

[ForOffRoadDriving]

mine does this and i though it was normal, youre putting the load of an electric motor on the circuit and having slighlty dirty connections or a less than margninal battery to store power in will cause problems, but my batteries are both new and my cables are 2ga and also new. on a side note it is only the factory gauge that sees this change in voltage, my autometer doesnt even flinch when i turn on the fan, or the off road lights, or the air horn. ive decided not to give the oe gauges thought as they have a history of not being very accurate, and instead install a set of mechanical gauges to keep an eye on the vitals.

 

[xkotyx]

on my explorer, i went to replace the terminals and the corrosion had actually found its way almost 2 inches back on the battery wire, under the insulation!

may not be the problem but couldnt hurt to check.