06 Chevy Silvarado Charging System Failure

[Chris Lam]

This is What i Need Help With :

 

2006 chevrolet silverado 1500 with the 4.3 L Engine , Automatic , 4x4 , "charging system overview"

 

I have a CHARGING SYSTEM FAILURE , can not Seem to get the Bugs out. Not Sure if What they Call the PCM Controls Everything or not?

 

And Whats The odds of it Just being the Alternator>? My Story is Below.

 

hi i have a 2006 Chevrolet Silvarado 4x4 , 1500 , reg cab 8 ft box, Black in color , with a 4.3L V6

 

Being its newer than 1998 , i am not up to date, no longer have much stuff around for test Equipment and So on , also on a Pension So not a rich man ither !

Problems started with my lights , started blowing my HID light packs, changed those , and than it blew bulbs , So switched back over to reg lights and im fine.

A week go`s by , like yesterday " charging System Failure " than it go`s away than it comes back same thing it would seem to turn itself on and off ?
I was thinking bad ground wires , so i got into cleaning up terminals AND checking for bad ground Wires exc.. No Luck , still did it.

I have older Alternators from 01 and 03 chevy trucks , they have a Wider plug in than what the 06 one has , and the color code of the 2 wires are the same , so i tapped into the smaller plug line, installed the other used Alternators to find out if such luck? still nothing, so i have Determined that my Alternators are fine, but not 100% sure because i have no real tester, but if u remove the -neg battery post while running it still stalls. And charging system still says Failure in all cases. frown emoticon

On my negative cable is a big Pack thing with a loop that go`s over the -neg cable ,and a big plug , When i did get the on and off current , if u unplug that while running , you loose the charging , not sure what that pack is?

Nor can i seem to find Any Fueses or Relays for the charging System in that Truck, but also do not understand what everything is inside that big fuse box on drivers Side of truck. Is there a relay / Fuse for it? Test light says all Fuses good., but can not check the grey ones.

Any help be good on this , thx

[txab]

I'd suggest you have your charging system tested at auto parts store and see what's going on

[Jsdirt]

None of these new ones will run on just the alternator - disconnecting the ground just shuts the computer down, and the engine with it. Don't get into a habit of doing that - some of these computers are pretty delicate (and very EXPENSIVE). Doesn't take much to spike one.

[Doug_Scott]

Decades ago while in trade school(Canada uses a license system for mechanics that was government controlled at the time), one of the questions on a test I took asked what the max voltage could an alternator put out when run without a battery in the circuit. Most guessed 15v (including me). Next day the instructor showed us what it was. He ran the ignition off of a battery to protect it, and isolated the charging circuit. He stopped the test once it hit 130v. I have never tried running a car without a battery ever since then. No valid test result can be achieved by disconnecting the battery on a running vehicle. To check charging, use a volt meter across the battery terminals. Over 13.2, and under 14.8 is safe. If you start blowing bulbs, it is more commonly from overcharging. It was easier in the old days when the batteries had vented removable caps. It would boil the battery dry pretty quick and be easy for the customer to notice the smell.

[Jsdirt]

You can weld with an alternator in a pinch.

[Picker]

If you put 0 volts into an alternator you will get 0 volts out of it.