Frustrating, Dealer, Low-Charge

So I took the truck in for a warranty battery replacement a few days ago.

Got the battery replaced with no issues and asked the Service Writer if he would check the charging system as well to ensure the "bad battery" was bad because of the battery failing and not the charging system causing it to fail.

I never hooked up a multi-meter to do any before/after comparisons as the truck is basically still new and I have enough to wrench on all week rather than tinker with this thing.

Anyway: he gives me the shpeal on how its standard to check the entire charging system, starter, bla, bla, bla anytime a vehicle comes in for a battery.

I think to myself: that's squared away...way to go dealer! (for once)

Fast FWD 1 week: My ever-burning curiousity just pushed me over the edge today as I'm prepping for a long trip so I pulled out the multi-meter and checked in on the charging system out of a hunch. Battery at "off" and during "crank" is fine.

13.4ishV while idle.....13.4ish at 2K+ rpm. All accesories on/off didnt affect it much. AVG all at 13.4 which is a FAIL.

I'm willing to bet there is no record of the "all inclusuive charging test" and I KNEW it most likely wasn't conducted b/c I asked for the results/print-out when i picked up the truck and the Writer gave me the run-around. Not wanting to be dramatic for something that was likely "just" the battery and not the charging system, I let it go and just rolled out. Go figure.

I guess that's the end of my rant. I will insist to speak with the SVC MGR this go-around.

 

13.4 is fine. You have to consider the battery state of charge also.

What's the beef.

 

Yeah what's wrong with 13.4 V?? 14.4 is MAX that doesn't mean that your battery should sit at 14+ while idling that means shit will start to break if it gets that high. This is a 12v system. Anything in the 13v range is perfect.

 

Ultragauge has been reading in the 13s the entire time I've owned the truck... 40k miles and 2 batteries hasn't changed it.

 

your charging system looks to be working just fine...a rant on the service manager at this time would not be kool..

 

I thought 13.4 - 13.5 was normal mine has been reading that with the Scan Guage 2. I have had mine in my '13 for the last 500 or so miles the truck has a little over 6 k ob the odo.

 

Yeah man my battery read 13.4 after leaving my halos on for 4 days when I went out of town. Cranked up and ran just fine

 

Ok here is the thing about a multimeter and load. You actually can measure different voltages around the truck.
Here is a sure thing:
-have someone available to give you a ride
-check your voltage.
-turn on headlights and blower with engine off
-read voltage. It will drop. Could drop to 12 or even less. 12 or above is pretty strong if you can still crank it.
-start engine. Voltage should go back up between 13 and 14.4 volts (volt regulator tolerance.). If so your charging system is OK.
-repeat. , optionally preventing the engine from starting
-voltage should drop on the battery, but Stable on charge.
-you could read amp draw but it's dangerous or impossible with most multimeters.

The "pro" battery test systems do that, and a bit more. They apply a massive load on the battery several times. Measuring current and voltage throughout. They then measure them during the charge cycle. Variances of different kinds are reported or "interpreted".

If you have one available. Many parts stores have a full test set and will do it for free. That should confirm your worries, or set you at ease.

 

How so?

 

12v system... charge rate seems perfect to me....
But WTF do I know?

 

You already know too much. Were gonna have to take you down Seal Team Six style

 

Ouch, I give, don't hurt me!!

 

I wonder if the OP isn't already at the dealer this morning chewing the SM a new ass before reading all the posts after #1?

 

then by the dealer.

 

The battery in my "11 tacoma with less than 23K miles and just under 2 years old failed in Canyonlands Nat'l park a couple of weeks ago. waited 5 hours for roadside assistance. Not their fault( they were on another call over 100 miles away). Drove into Grand JUnction, Co at 10:30 PM to Western Slopes toyota and made mistake of killing engine. Battery still dead. I slept in the parking lot. They opened at 8AM on a Saturday. Service writer told me they had little time for toyota service that day(also a ford dealer). Wasn't concerned that I lived 1200 miles away and had a $6K bicycle and $20K worth of camera equipment in the vehicle. I couldn't find toyota corporate numbers on my cell so I called my wife and she called Corporate. The had me going within an hour after that. Technician said that about 10% of that model battery failed compared to about 2% of other models.
Lesson: if you aren't sure about your battery. Replace it before any long jaunts.

 

Thanks for input.

I see that 13.4'ish is the norm. around here, but I always thought 13.7-14.3 with no load and "high idle" was where it should be for a strong system.

Industry standard (take that with your own grains of salt) DOES state that 13.4 is on the cusp of a weak charging system.....feel free to google around on that.

Didn't chew anybody (mostly try sugar, not salt) yet, but did call to set up an appt. to swap out my radio (another thread) and discovered that the "charging system test" that I referenced in original post was indeed NOT conducted (as I claimed). Told the writer the backstory/situation and further explained that under load I'm in the 13.30's and he then stated that may be an issue and wants a tech to check it out.

The dealer's threshold before they condemn the part is in the 13.20'ish range according to them.

Also, all other vehicles I've owned have been 14+ range.

Check out another car in your driveway and see what you come up with

 

My 96' taco used to be at about 14.4-14.5 but my 08' run at about 14.0-14.1 range.

I never had a vehicule running lower than 14V also...

 

I'mma check my Ultragage and see what I'm getting on my 5 month old V6 4x4 and post results. Any vehicle states I should focus on?

 

what do you mean by vehicle states?

(not being sarcastic here)

 

both my 07 (which had big 3 done, an extra battery, etc) when it got hot in the summer would charge around 13.3-13.4 no electrical load, even jacking up the revs to spin the alt, it sat the same. my '12 does the same. however in the winter when it is cold out and the alt stays cool, i'll rarely see below 13.8-14.0 unless I am sitting in traffic. I think the regulators are set low in these trucks. There was a mod somewhere in the audio forum that adds a resistor to one of the wires in the alt plug that jacks the voltage up.

I wish it charged a little higher, so amp draw isn't so high on my 12v accessories, remedying this would require along the lines of an aftermarket HO alt, which is not ideal because they aren't cheap, but 220a warrantied for ~400 w/ custom charge volt isn't a bad alternative.