high voltage and intermittent flashing Battery light

[jasco]

94 E350 motorhome with 7.3 IDI

Coming back from and 800 mile trip the battery light started to flicker every once and awhile. The volt meter was also higher than normal ( I'd guess it to be somewhere around 16V). From what I've read it sounds like voltage regulator is the culprit. Can I just change the regulator or do I have to do the whole alternator? Is the regulator part of the alternator?

Thanks,

Matt

 

[BigRigTech]

If you have an external regulator then make sure it's well grounded....A poor ground on an external regulator can causing over charging.

 

[itsacrazyasian]

94 should be internal.

Personally i'd grab a motorcraft voltage regulator and replace it, two screws on the back and a paper clip.

The aftermarket reman alternators use no name regulators and they will all die long before a Motorcraft part will.

BTW check your charging voltage with a real multimeter not that dum dum gauge.

 

[jasco]

Yeah I was going to check the real voltage. I got back from the trip Sunday night at 10 and then left at 5 am Monday for a business trip. Just got home yesterday so I was going to check the real voltage this weekend.

It should put out a little over 14 V at idle right?

 

[alienturtle]

u MIGHT not see 14 at an idle. you should see about 13.5 or more. At a higher rmp such as 1500 you should see around 14. Shut the vehicle off. you should see around 12v start the vehicle..if you see around 13 then you are charging. if you rev it up and start to go over 14.7 15v then you are overcharging and i would take a look at the ground for the regulator as BigRigTech already stated.

charging systems are very simple when you go through the steps.

 

[jasco]

14.2-14.3 V at idle and with some throttle (don't have a tach). Engine rpm doesn't seem to affect it. When I turn off the engine it will immediately drop to around 13.3V and then slowly fall to somewhere in the 12V range (usually above 12V which is think is correct).

Can't seem to get the flashing light to repeat. I was driving through rain when i was having the problems, but I'm not sure if that would make a difference.

 

[benton]

check the water in your batrees! i ad the same problem and it turned out i had dead cells and the alternator was workin over time to keep them charged

 

[jasco]

It does have two brand new batteries and this was the first trip since they were replaced. Maybe one of the cells wasn't completely sealed and the acid boiled out. I'll pull them and get them both load tested.