Question Help needed... Boiling battery!

[BIG JOE]

Alternators can have intermittant problems, so keep an eye on it.

Especially if you buy autozone alternators and batteries. [They have great return warranties, but it is not uncommon to find yourself using the warranty!]

You may have had many other issues - who knows, but it seems crazy to lose faith in the 6.0L and Ford's products specifically ...... based solely on a battery issue. That can happen w/ any engine make / model / etc.

[ TIMES 2 ]

I'd buy another Alternator, from another source, preferably a New one, not a Reman.

After that ? New Batteries would be next.

This Gremlin is not the 6.0, or Ford's fault... Not bashing AZ here but.. You Get What You Payed For... when it comes to Reman, and Store Brand parts & pieces ?

The ROI thing ?

 

[djanzen]

You have a charging problem. Your battery posts should NOT got hot. I am guessing that your alternator regulator is not doing it's job, sometimes at least. This is tied to your dash problem, but I am not sure how or why. My guess is the alternator is over-charging and this causes Hot posts and funny dash problems. Any one else have a bright idea??

Dave

Just for a little info guys, the voltage is regulated by the PCM not the alternator on these trucks, 13.8 volts is about the highest you will see. Ford wanted a lower steady voltage for the electronics on the trucks, these are a digital voltage regulated alternator.
If your alternator light flashes or comes on for a couple of mins after starting then goes out, you have a diode blown in it, need to replace before low voltage take out the FICM

 

[Smoky]

If you're looking for a new alternator, check out this website for new, not reman, alternators.

6G Series Heavy Duty Bridge Rectifier High Output Alternator

 

[bismic1]

The PCM only controls the alternator on the DUAL alternator set ups.

Edit:

Reference:
http://flatratetech.com/downloads/Alternator.pdf

The chart only gives the 03 and 04 (Econoline, Excursion, and Super Duty), but the 05 and up are the same.

Single alternators:
The Alternator Status Line (I-Line) is hardwired from the Alternator to the Instrument Cluster's system warning indicator (a.k.a. Gen Lamp or Batt Lamp). The Alternator sets the I-Line to ground when it senses a fault; thus, turns on the system warning indicator.

 

[jherman]

i found out that the auto zone alternators are bad out of the box 2 out of 3 times, i know this from personal experience of two of my trucks 7.3 and 6.0. the answer was to get the bridge rectified alternator from the guys in detroit.
I replaced 6 alternators before spending the money and now i have no charging problems.
regarding the flashing dash, my experience was the same and the first time it happened the batteries were failing while driving and i was running on alternator only. the second time was the alternator failing and running on batteries only. Either way the dash would flash then die and sometimes it would come back and sometimes it would stay gone. I think that it trips a relay and if it doesnt get the correct voltage back it stays tripped because as soon as i put new batteries in it corrected itself until the alternator started failing then it happened again and as soon as i replaced the alternator and got the voltage back up it seems to have reset a relay. I say relay because if it was a fuse it would not correct itself.
just thought i would share my experiences.