Back with the son-in-laws '03 Durango with 4.7 liter (he is in IRAQ and I am SUV sitting) and 89,000 miles. Daughter said she intermittently gets a Check Gauges prompt. I checked oil and coolant levels, all are good did a static battery check 12.2 VDC, and a engine running check with AC on and got 14.2 VDC, (all gauges are in the green). As daughter says sometimes she gets a whining noise I would suspect the alternator and I told her to check gauges if that prompt occurs and also if the whine returns. Anything else you can suggest?

 

without knowing which gauge is dropping out of spec it could be any one (or more) of a very large number of things, what you did was right, when the light comes on check the guages, and let us know which gauge is out of spec, and which side it is out of spec to

 

Gracias, will do.

 

check gauges comes on most often when the charging system drops below 14Volts.. It will stay on a bi longer then the other lights when it turns on as the alternator gets up to speed. also you may wanna check for lose battery terminals or corrosion on the terminals.. lastly just make sure the battery is secured down and jumping all over the place..

 

I agree and am assuming (always dicey) that the alternator is the culprit, it is catching it while it is acting up that can be tricky.

 

If I didn't already request it already, please give my thanks to your son-in-law for serving our country. Also I hope you get that whine figured out.

 

Well if you get a "Check Engine" light simply get the code read and post it up.

 

Thanks for all of the responses, I am now waiting for the beast to show it's head. As to coding, I do not believe the Check Gauges throws a code, only the Check Engine Light does that.

 

you are correct, hydra was just too far into happy hour to put all the parts together about your problem

 

Ja. Ein Pils Bitte.