Alternator light and chime

[BaldOldBob]

2006 Endeavor with 400 ISL. We are in northern British Columbia heading to Alaska, so something had to happen. Today we ran into a huge construction project where we were stopped long enough that four different times I shut off the engine. The last time was a quick start up and I'm not sure whether or not I waited for the "wait to start " light to go out before starting.

Anyway, about five minutes down the road, going 30 mph or so, we hear 4 chimes followed by a repeating 3 chimes and the alternator light comes on. It goes off for a while then starts again, this happening several times. Finally I notice the Aladdin Jr. is showing 14.1 to 14.3 volts whenever this happens.

We continue driving eventually traveling at normal highway speeds and and this seems to occur at random intervals, but always showing the 14.1 or higher voltage when it does. Then it stopped as suddenly as it began with the volts showing a steady 14.0. My recollection is that 13.8 or 13.9 is normal with an occasional 14.0.

When we reached the RV park we were staying at for the night, I shut the engine off while we registered, then started it up to drive to the site. The voltage was in the 13.8-13.9 range for this brief drive. Any thoughts on what might have caused the problem and if it's something we should be concerned about before we really head off into the far north, assuming it doesn't happen again tomorrow when we have a short day driving to Dawson Creek.

[DonBaja]

Bob, I think I understand wait to start and it has to do with warming of the air to be combusted at start up, to make start up easier. The "Wait to Start" has a longer delay for cold weather/starts and a minimum delay period regardless of engine temp. Starting your warmed up engine prior to the light going out, to my mind, is of no consequence. The only consequence flowing from what you did would be, if everything was cold, that the engine turned over too long or failed to start at all. Nothing you said about the alternator should be even remotely related to wait to start.

[BaldOldBob]

Update: Drove today to Dawson Creek, BC. No Alt. light, no chimes, so maybe it was just a one time thing. Voltage steady at 13.9 on the Aladdin Jr most of the time. Would drop to 13.8 on long uphill climbs and 13.8-13.9 going downhill using the exhaust brake. Coasting downhill it was 14.0, which I think is what it normally showed.

DonBaja - Thanks for the reply, the wife was worried that I had done something wrong when I hurried too much to start the engine. Now if something really does go wrong, at least she knows it wasn't my fault.

[wa8yxm]

In the construction zone did you perhaps drive through a puddle and SPLASH the alternator? The car I used to tow did that if I hit deep water.

[DonBaja]

Bob, don't be coasting downhill in neutral. OK in drive. Something to do with the Allison lubricating itself. Like you, I go from one panic to the next. I read what I can and try not to make the same mistake too many times.

[nodine]

Quote:

Originally Posted by BaldOldBob Update:....... Now if something really does go wrong, at least she knows it wasn't my fault.

now Bob, you know it is always our fault!

Another Bob.

P.S. I agree with Don that there does not seem to be anything wrong with the alternator. Since you do not normally sit for long periods with the engine off after it has been running for sometime, the incident may be related to a higher temperature of some component in the engine compartment. Sitting longer with a hot engine will increase heat soaking of parts like the voltage regulator which may be hotter at startup than it usually is with the engine operating or from a cold start.

Bob

[zman62]

I have had this happen and it will rear its head in the future. The alternator has a single circuit(seperate from the charging circuit) that its only purpose is to keep the alt light off. It puts out 6 volts for this circuit only. The 6 volts travels up to the compartment right below the driver to a "alt charge relay" This relay will go bad and when it does it causes the light to come on. The other issue is the wire going to the relay is too small for the length of the run. Over time it builds up resistance and the voltage drop will cause the relay to open and the light comes on.
Hopefully it stays away but if it comes back you know what it is.

[Happy RVer]

Hey Bob, My 1999 Diplomat was doing the same thing and had my Alt,coil, and Bi-directional relay delay box checked. It all works great. It ended up being the DUVAC relay. I found them on E-Bay for low cost.Zman is right it will happen again! I was dealing with mine off and on for 2 seasons. Alt light would come on I would stop coach turn off key and restart the light would go off.Would last mile or 100 miles so random. Finally it got to the point where I couldn't get the light to go off. Ended up being the DUVAC connection!