Overcharging?

[lindsay_elaine]

About a month ago, I was driving home from work and noticed my voltmeter was pegged all the way to the max. I pulled over and called my uncle to ask if it was okay to drive, and he told me not to worry about it unless it stays like that, in which case we'd have to change the alternator because of a bad regulator. I started the truck up again and it was back in the normal range, no issues. On and off for the past month, the voltmeter will randomly peg all the way up, then drop back to normal. It doesn't do it in sync with engine revs or anything, it's just totally random and does it a few times a week. I haven't had any issues with the truck not starting or doing anything weird electrically, just the voltmeter flying up and sometimes my headlights get a little brighter because of it. Is there a ground wire or something I should be looking for or is it time to consider buying an alternator? I'm getting paranoid about it since I'm currently 400 miles from home and am driving back next Tuesday. While driving here, it did it maybe once during the drive, and once again since I've been here. I don't want to start throwing parts at it if it could be something more simple... thanks

 

[kimcrwbr1]

First off yea check all your grounds. Batt to engine , Batt to chassis, engine to chassis. Erratic problems are usually wiring related so inspect clean battery terminals good and all the connectors. Pull the connectors apart and clean with elect cleaner and put some dielectric grease on them when you put them back together. Also look for any loose ,cracked or burnt wires and fix as necessary. Use a volt ohm meter to check the charging system it is not wise running it as any part of the charging system bad can burn up the other two rather quick so make sure it is right. here is the link to testing and troubleshooting the charging system.

 

[kimcrwbr1]

http://www.therangerstation.com/tech_library/chargingsystem.htm