amps surging

[Foehammer]

Hey guys today while driving i noticed my battery light flashing and my amp gauge read about 16-17amps for about 30 secs then went back to normal , it did this off and on while driving, staying on for only a few secs then droppiung to normal again.

Any ideas as to what is causing the surges in electricity?

I have no check engine lights coming on only the battery light and the Rpms are staying normal while it does it.

Do I just need to replace the alternator or what?

Thanks
John

 

[ak diesel driver]

possible regulator going bad or an intermittent short in the vehicle

 

[iamdave0887]

by amps gauge do you mean the one in the dash or do you actually have an aftermarket ammeter?

If your talking about the dash gauges it's volts not amps. 16-18 volts can fry electronics in the truck since most are rated to run at 12.6 volts, and will survive at the normal 13.8-14.4 charging range.

Odds ar the voltage regulator is toasted. I had an alternator do that but it was doing the opposite. The dash gauges would twitch and fall off towards the low end of the range at random.

 

[WarWagon]

Loose wires on the main bus or back of the alternator. Alternator could be loosing the output voltage sense and going full voltage to bring up voltage it can't see due to the loose wires. Otherwise the alternator is shorted (agreed on regulator) and going full field and full voltage because of that.

 

[Foehammer]

Where in the vehicle do i find the regulator is it part of the alternator or is it seperate, do I need to replace the alternator to replace the regulator?

 

[iamdave0887]

Regulator is internal to the alternator. You coudl replace the alternator, or take it to be rebuilt at a local auto electric shop. I'd avoid the chain stores. Electronic parts form there are "sold" to the lowest bidder for rebuilding.