gordon@cae780.UUCP (Brian Gordon) (05/14/85)
Ok, netlanders, make guesses on this one ...
The vehicle is a 1983 Dodge Maxivan, 3xx V8, automatic everything. It's main
reason for existence is to tow a big (32') travel trailer on occasional
vacations.
At age three weeks, the battery was dead, and was replaced under warranty.
At age one year, the battery was dead again. The auto electric shop said the
battery was fine (just discharged), but the electrical/charging system was
dead. The dealer said the electrical system was fine, it was just a defective
battery. Since neither of them had anything to gain by lying (the electric
shop knew I was going elsewhere for the work under warranty, the dealer would
have gotten the warranty work but not the battery), I took the cheaper
solution first, and bought a new battery -- a Sears Incredicell. After two
weeks, it was dead. A second dealer agreed to replace the alternator and
voltage regulator under the "warranty" -- really a third party insurance
policy. There diagnosis was an intermittent failure in the voltage
regulator. After a week, the battery was dead again, and the second dealer
replaced the defective (new) voltage regulator.
At age two years (for the van, one year for the replaced parts), the battery
was dead again -- specifically, it had no reserve capacity, and leaving the
interior lights on for three hours drained the battery completely. Sears
replaced the battery free, no fuss.
Driving home, the ammeter registered flat, instead of the expected fairly
high charge. Turning anything on (headlights, air-conditioner, etc.) sent
the ammeter to discharge. The auto electric shop now reports that the
alternator is dead, and the voltage regulator may be too.
There is no evidence of alternator burnout, nothing appears to have gotten
very hot, as from a runaway voltage regulator causing constant high charging,
there is no visual evidence of a short causing abnormal drain, ...
Two alternator failures in 32,000 miles in two years?? Any guesses?
FROM: Brian G. Gordon, CAE Systems
UUCP: {ihnp4, decvax!decwrl}!amd!cae780!gordon
{nsc, resonex, qubix, hplabs, leadsv, teklds}!cae780!gordon
USNAIL: 1333 Bordeaux Drive, Sunnyvale, CA 94089
AT&T: (408)745-1440chim@ncsu.UUCP (Bill Chimiak) (05/16/85)
I had a Plymouth Horizon which had an ammeter that was worthless. When the battery was discharging, the ammeter registered nothing. I wonder if the meters are really connected.
bob@vaxwaller.UUCP (Bob Palin) (05/17/85)
Oh what a familiar story ! I have had the same experience with my Ford E150 only it only got bad just as the warranty expired ( 1 year ). In the first few weeks after I got the van the battery went flat but by the time I got to the dealer it was charged again and they could find nothing wrong. This situation occurred again a couple of times as the warranty expired. The Ford dealer would do nothing for us ( Ed Chovanes Ford in San Leandro, Ca. ) and the Ford factory people in Milpitas were equally helpful 8-(. Eventually we took the van to a local electrical shop who replaced the alternator for us. This worked for a short while but the problem recurred at which point they suggested we put in a higher rated alternator and replace the voltage regualtor and batteries all at the same time. Not a problem since ! 8-). There were no signs of damage to any of the replaced alternators or regulators but it appears that they were being over taxed anyway. It's now been a couple of years since the last episode and everything has been fine, of course I've replaced all of the above parts twice on my 1971 Ford LTD ( a real car ! ). So you may want to try a bigger alternator if one is available. Bob Palin, Varian Inst., Walnut Creek, Ca.
djw@lanl.ARPA (05/18/85)
I have a 1979 Dodge B300 Pathfinder 4X4 Van. I have some electrical problems also. Around Christmas I replaced the alternator, the battery, the regulator, and the starter. I have a short in the horn button but I've unplugged most of the stuff going through the steering. My Amp gauge has never really moved. The last time I fixed everything the Amp gauge would go up about a 16th of an inch. The pathfinder conversion has heavy duty everything, so I don't know whether the qauge movement is a symptom or a cause. The van is being repainted just now and I will get into the electrics as soon as that's done. The alternator is blown again I believe. The first time it was a combination of a dragging starter and a blown regulator. The other alternator wasn't really blown, it was dirty internally and threw sparks like a children's toy. I found that the rubber skirt had been left off when they lowered the engine ( or raised the frame, depends on your viewpoint ). The tires threw slush into the alternator and that ate brushes. Unless, we have uncovered some design flaw that could be common to some vans. I did discover a short ( pinched wire ) inside my tilt-steering on the cruise control. I wrapped it with tape and my cruise works again. I have the factory manual for my van ( at home ), I will post the address to order same next week if anyone cares. $17.50 from someplace in Ohio. The manual shows stuff about the electrics that are really amazing. Guess where the factory dual battery is mounted? With two parts illustrated in the manual, it is mounted next to the main battery but just a little lower and it's a little shorter battery. I don't have to cut my floorboard to get the dual battery setup. ( I couldn't figure out where to put the battery because I didn't know where the dual exhaust pipes would go. ) I believe you need to have your starter checked. Whenever anything goes wrong on the electrics of a Dodge Van, the problem is usually cause by a severe ( >200amp ) drain caused by a dragging starter. There is a high torque/high speed starter available; I bought one this time, It is about a half inch longer than the stock one. But the spin is very different. Chase one down at your local rebuilder's or call Bijan at Target Distributing in Albuquerque, New Mexico and make arrangements to buy one from him. I have nothing to do with his business. An Auto battery is not meant to be deep-discharged, it will self destruct after two or three times, but you all know that because I learned it from USENET! People do take these things to heart you know. Dave Wade Note: entire article is quoted starting here... maybe not.