I have a 2001 Dodge Ram 1500, 5.2 w/ NV3500 4WD having some electrical problems it seems.

Going to point out before I go into the issue that I recently installed a headache rack with turn signal/brake lights on it and there could be a possible bad ground (but I don't think this could cause an issue?), I have already cleaned off the grounds and reinstalled them.

A few days ago sitting in a parking lot getting ready to go home I noticed my truck was cranking really slow. I thought my starter was going bad until today when I was going to work I looked down and saw the check gauges light was on and the voltage was maxed out. I immediately pulled over, popped the hood (and from what I now know, made a mistake and did something I read you aren't supposed to do) and unplugged the battery while the truck was running, voltage gauge went down, I hooked the battery back up and it was fine the entire rest of the drive and the drive home later today was fine.

I have checked the battery voltage when the truck was off and it seems fine.
I checked the voltage when the truck was on to make sure the alternator was working correctly.

I just watched a video a moment ago where a guy hooked a multimeter up to the battery and revved the engine up to 2k and said the battery voltage should stop rising at a certain point and if it doesn't your voltage regulator is bad.

Any ideas anyone?

 

Intermittent failures are always the most fun..... Sounds to me like either the alternator, or your voltage regulator, is seriously considering failing. Problem becomes, which one? Testing won't do you any good, unless it is already in failure mode. (if everything is working right when you test, well, everything will test good.....) I suspect you are going to have to wait until it fails again, and see what happens. It might be an intermittent short in the alternator, might be the regulator... Unfortunately, the regulator is part of the PCM......

 

Can you not replace just the voltage regulator? is the PCM basically useless when the voltage regulator goes out?

 

You can add an external voltage regulator

 

Adding an external voltage regulator will solve my issue if it happens to be the voltage regulator? I've read on some vehicles if the voltage regulator goes out it can take other things with it.

 

Yep. 99% of the time is it goes on a dodge is just the regulator