okay heres a great electrical problem for you. ther have been a couple time that this has happened to me, when I put the alternator under heavy load (headlights on, fan blower on high) there is a noticable change in the headlights and the voltage guage, and the belt squeals. On 2 occassions, the belt has squealed and I watched the guage dropped right off to zero (while reaching for the blower fan real quick and shutting everything off), although the belt stopped squealing and the van seemed to run fine (no squealing),the guage didn't reset itself until I turned the van off and restarted it. on both occassions I drove the van about 5 miles before I could stop, once I even needed the headlights on and they din't even seem to dim while driving, and the van started right up both times like there was no draw on the battery. Is there a circuit breaker or shutoff to the guage that keeps it form working until I reset it or something? Could the alternater and voltage regulator still be working and maybe just the guage is bad?

 

forget the most important part....2000 dodge ram conversion van with 5.2L engine

 

If everything worked and the engine didn't shut off its probably a guage or sensor issue. If the voltage drops right off to zero everything will shut off

 

or the alt is crapping out on highload demand and your running off the battery untill the alt catches up or loads down..

take the alt off and have it tested for free at autozone/advanced auto

 

1. The belt squeaking can be alt bearings that are on their way out. As the bearings go bad, and a heavy load is placed on the alternator, things heat up quite quickly. Now the alt pulley has major resistance, either the bearings chirp, or the belt isskipping over the pulley. (Slipping). Make sure your belt is in good shape. A high milage belt will wear out and polish itself on the drive side. You will see the end of the former grooves.

2. Check the belt tensioner too. If that part has done it's time, there is MAJOR squeaking.

3. ALL battery connections must be clean and tight for the system to charge properly. I have a 95' Ram, but most of the Dodge alt's I have seen have a large (6 or 8 gauge) wire that runs from the back of the alternator, to the battery. This is the charge wire. When they say your alt is 160amps.....that's the wire it runs thru. The other two wires are much smaller, and are on tiny studs, right next to each other. Sometimes they crack, get corrodded, or loosen up. I would check those three spots......IF your alternator test's out fine.


4. I would just remove the alt, or the belt, and spin it by hand and load test it. If it's bearings, there will be noticable play in the armature shaft.


5. I suspect the volt meter drops off because, the voltage has decresed either from a bad alternator (electrical problem), or bad bearings that are slowing the alternator down, limiting it's output. Most alts have stages of power that they will release as the demand increases. I am quite sure this is done by controlling sets of electrical windings. A set may have gone bad, or the alt needs more speed.


In fact, check the belt first. If it's worn, just replace it and road test her again. Start with the easy stuff. That and clean electrical connections.
Hope this helps.

Good luck with your ride.