I was driving home from work the other evening when my battery light came on and my voltmeter began to slowly drop. I made it home and pulled the alternator and went to the local O'Reilly's and had the alternator tested. The alternator tested good twice. I went ahead and charged the battery and put everything back together and my voltmeter is showing a good voltage, but this really has me worried.:blink: Has anyone had a similar problem with a ranger? '95 - 2.3L 5spd. Thanks in advance!
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Obviously your concern is valid. Why, the no charge light? The basics would be to clean battery terminals, check all connections for tightness and test charging voltages. We need 13.8-14.2 volts with the engine running at 2000 RPM. Conditions in the truck can trigger the no charge light that the bench testing cannot duplicate. This alternator can still be defective. There are wires or straps that connect the different body parts together electrically. These also need to be checked for integrity. The body of the truck, the engine are all shock mounted for noise and vibration stuff. They still need to be at the same level electrically, thus bonding or ground wires. Any of these can cause electrical problems. Hope this helps.
Another thought for you would be to take your truck into your local parts store and have the alternator check while still installed. I know that Auto Zone and Advance Autoparts provide this service for free altho I dont know if O'Reillys does. Also have you checked your belt to be sure there are no signs of excess wear which could cause the belt to slip. Just a couple of thought for you.
Same problem with my 2002. I am now on the 2nd alternator in 20,000km's and wondering about the battery. This seems intermittent because if I shut the truck off, it returns to normal state. I will keep you posted on my findings.
