charging system

**Classy-or-nasty** · 12-02-2017

how do i check down the line between battery, alternator, and ECM? my 06 has an overcharge problem, my connections and fuses are fine. Is there a way to test throughout the circuit, or am i hoping for a snowball in hell? Im starting to wonder given the system is worked the way it is if i just need to bite the bullet and replace the ECM. Someone please tell me im wrong with that one. Or right. Which ever gets this girl back on the road.

0 Comment(s)

**Polaraco** · 12-02-2017

Originally Posted by Classy-or-nasty

how do i check down the line between battery, alternator, and ECM? my 06 has an overcharge problem, my connections and fuses are fine. Is there a way to test throughout the circuit, or am i hoping for a snowball in hell? Im starting to wonder given the system is worked the way it is if i just need to bite the bullet and replace the ECM. Someone please tell me im wrong with that one. Or right. Which ever gets this girl back on the road.

Crystal Ball is cloudy. Start with the year, mileage, mods done to the truck.
Has anything been done to the truck recently? If so, what.
What makes you think it's over charging? Have you tested it with a hand held volt meter? 06 Dash clusters can be flakey.
Have you had the batteries tested?
The voltage regulator is inside the ECM. But if it has failed, it can be done externally with a old fashioned Mopar regulator

Us techies, would like to have all the info in the message body. I'm the electrical guy so you're stuck with the old crab.

0 Comment(s)

**Classy-or-nasty** · 12-02-2017

youve got pretty much everything except that its the manual with the G56. mods: afe intake horn and heater grid delete, previous owner rigged ram air intake, second gen manifold, 4" downpipe to 5" straight pipe, hardway performance tune.
i thought one went bad at firs, as i LOST voltage while driving. I pulled over before she died out, and the battery was boiling. The next day, i hooked the leads of a DVOM to the battery. at idle, the batteries are at 14.7v. increase engine speed slightly, they get as hit as 15.5v.

0 Comment(s)

**Classy-or-nasty** · 12-02-2017

OH AND SHES AT 160k MILES. my bad.

0 Comment(s)

**HKBIGDADDYDIESELDAN** · 12-02-2017

Originally Posted by Classy-or-nasty

youve got pretty much everything except that its the manual with the G56. mods: afe intake horn and heater grid delete, previous owner rigged ram air intake, second gen manifold, 4" downpipe to 5" straight pipe, hardway performance tune.
i thought one went bad at firs, as i LOST voltage while driving. I pulled over before she died out, and the battery was boiling. The next day, i hooked the leads of a DVOM to the battery. at idle, the batteries are at 14.7v. increase engine speed slightly, they get as hit as 15.5v.

I don’t believe those voltages are correct I’ve never had my batteries charging at 15.5 volts that is high most of the time from what’ve Seen just little over 14 volts charging whether idling or bringing RPM’s up

0 Comment(s)

**Polaraco** · 12-03-2017

Originally Posted by Classy-or-nasty

OH AND SHES AT 160k MILES. my bad.

I had to hunt for the year. Read my signature. SOP is all the info up front. Please Try to remember that. The old man will stand on his head for you. Time is wasted hunting for the year. With 5000 members, There is no way I would know who has what. Nuff said on that.

You don't have a check engine light? You didn't say

Have the batteries tested. A bad battery (Internally fault) could cause that problem too. There's so many things it can be. This isn't like the cars and trucks from the 60's and 70's. If everything else checks out, then I would look hard at the battery. Were they both boiling?

Most of the time, overcharging is caused by a bad ground or connection. Pull the 2 prong plug on the alt. and check the connections. Make sure the Batt connection on the back of the alternator is good. Another possibility is the rectifier is bad. I'm not sure how the 06 alternator is configured. Is there a black box on the back of the alternator? If it's there, that's the rectifier and you can service it. But to verify it, you have to have the alternator tested on a bench tester.

On 03 to 05, there are two relays located between the alternator and the battery. Since the 06 was the first year true canbus, I don't know if it's there. The alternator Batt wire goes to that relay and then to the batteries. If the Alternator goes direct to your batts, then this is moot. If you have that relay, jump it and see what happens. The other relay is the grid heater

However unlikely, jump a ground between the alternator case and the engine.

The grounds you need to concern yourself with are on the fender lip near the batteries. They are a 10MM hex. Loosen them and check for corrosion. You can drop some oil on them and retighten them

With the key on, you should be getting a voltage reading from the two small wires on the alternator. One is the exciter, and the other actually regulates the voltage. That's the one wire that definitely goes to the ECM. Without looking I have to assume the other wire comes from the ECM as well. You could follow the harness's and look for damage. There is also a possibility of corrosion in the harness causing this.

Unless you have a check engine light, and you should for over voltage, the regulator is hard to diagnose. Without the proper test equipment I just told you what I would do.

Keep me posted

0 Comment(s)

**Classy-or-nasty** · 12-03-2017

i did put the year in the original post. and wasnt tryin to be smart or anything, just my spazzoid way of saying i forgot to include that part

0 Comment(s)

**Classy-or-nasty** · 12-03-2017

Originally Posted by Polaraco

I had to hunt for the year. Read my signature. SOP is all the info up front. Please Try to remember that. The old man will stand on his head for you. Time is wasted hunting for the year. With 5000 members, There is no way I would know who has what. Nuff said on that.

You don't have a check engine light? You didn't say

Have the batteries tested. A bad battery (Internally fault) could cause that problem too. There's so many things it can be. This isn't like the cars and trucks from the 60's and 70's. If everything else checks out, then I would look hard at the battery. Were they both boiling?

Most of the time, overcharging is caused by a bad ground or connection. Pull the 2 prong plug on the alt. and check the connections. Make sure the Batt connection on the back of the alternator is good. Another possibility is the rectifier is bad. I'm not sure how the 06 alternator is configured. Is there a black box on the back of the alternator? If it's there, that's the rectifier and you can service it. But to verify it, you have to have the alternator tested on a bench tester.

On 03 to 05, there are two relays located between the alternator and the battery. Since the 06 was the first year true canbus, I don't know if it's there. The alternator Batt wire goes to that relay and then to the batteries. If the Alternator goes direct to your batts, then this is moot. If you have that relay, jump it and see what happens. The other relay is the grid heater

However unlikely, jump a ground between the alternator case and the engine.

The grounds you need to concern yourself with are on the fender lip near the batteries. They are a 10MM hex. Loosen them and check for corrosion. You can drop some oil on them and retighten them

With the key on, you should be getting a voltage reading from the two small wires on the alternator. One is the exciter, and the other actually regulates the voltage. That's the one wire that definitely goes to the ECM. Without looking I have to assume the other wire comes from the ECM as well. You could follow the harness's and look for damage. There is also a possibility of corrosion in the harness causing this.

Unless you have a check engine light, and you should for over voltage, the regulator is hard to diagnose. Without the proper test equipment I just told you what I would do.

Keep me posted

but, no the mil does not light up. and only one battery boiled originally, but theyre both reading the same now i got it home (that was after several minutes of driving and me not noticing my battery guage. is there any testing beyond using a DVOM? both batteries are ~12.5v with engine off, they creep up to 14.7v once cranked and idling.

i checked both the 2 prong connector and the battery connection at the alt. they both look good as new. would that 2 prong connector plug in to the rectifier? or is that something else, it does plug in to a little black box... also, the battery wire is direct to alternator with only a fuesable link between.

i will say ive had rouble locating my grounds, im currently sick as a dog so as soon as night fall hit last night, i wrapped up. im about to bring my sick bum back out there and dig deeper as well as check the grounds you mentioned. and as far as the two small wires going to the alt. are those the two in the two prong connector??
Thank you so much for the info!

0 Comment(s)

**Classy-or-nasty** · 12-03-2017

update, chased ground wires from both batteries, they both connect straight to the block. taking the alternator for a bench test now. someone. anyone reading this. please. WISH ME LUCK

0 Comment(s)