Battery question

From : frank taylor jr

Q: i have a 2000 dodge durango with the 5.9 engine and a weird thing happened recently. the battery was on its last legs and for a while it could not even crank the engine. a few hours later i tried again and it was barely able to crank the engine enough to start it. after revving the engine a bit i let off the gas and as soon as the engine slowed to an idle it shut off. i tried this several more times and each time as soon as i let the engine return to idle it cut off. the voltage gauge showed 14 volts while the engine was running indicating that the alternator is working. knowing that the battery was dead i went ahead and bought another to replace it. once i installed the new battery the truck ran fine even at idle. whats up with this i thought that once an engine was running the condition of the battery would not make a difference because the alternator would provide any electrical power needed. has this changed with newer vehicles frank .

Replies:

From : okcjailer4

dodge products are funny animals one is not like another even though they look the same and are called the same thing .

From : garnie garnieatsaskteldotnet

wife spent a lot of time in the hospital this year. on one of my trips to visit using her 2000 neon the car wouldnt start after leaving the hospital. i called a buddy for a boost and chewed my fingernails during the 70 mile drive home. all the while various dashlites would blink the radio kind of played but would crap out and i imagine the headlites were probably glimmering too. i guess the sparkplugs arent as fussy as the radio as the engine never hiccuped once. garnie on tue 2 sep 2003 094445 -0400 frank taylor jr. fatjr@ureach.com wrote i have a 2000 dodge durango with the 5.9 engine and a weird thing happened recently. the battery was on its last legs and for a while it could not even crank the engine. a few hours later i tried again and it was barely able to crank the engine enough to start it. after revving the engine a bit i let off the gas and as soon as the engine slowed to an idle it shut off. i tried this several more times and each time as soon as i let the engine return to idle it cut off. the voltage gauge showed 14 volts while the engine was running indicating that the alternator is working. knowing that the battery was dead i went ahead and bought another to replace it. once i installed the new battery the truck ran fine even at idle. whats up with this i thought that once an engine was running the condition of the battery would not make a difference because the alternator would provide any electrical power needed. has this changed with newer vehicles frank correct at and dot in the address to reply. .

From : clem

has this changed with newer vehicles frank yes it has. i dont know the specifics on what has changed. i assume its the more advanced computerization which requires a nice clean voltage source which an alternator is not. the vehicle runs off of the battery and the alternator just keeps the battery charged. .