As I posted before I've been having my gages full sweep from time to time. So I check the battery with my multi meter the battery check out at 12. Something and the alternator was 14. Something can't remember now. But now from time to time it acts likes the terminals have a bad connection so I wiggle them and tightened them and had the same problem a few days later. So I took it to advanced auto where I bought the alt and battery back in February. They put they're box on it and it came up the there is diode stuck open and that my battery needs charged. Made no sense to me since there's a diode stuck open. So I left empty handed because he said there is nothing wrong with any of it.

Then this morning I sent my boy out to start my truck he came back in and said it was acting strange. I walked out and it was surging. I shut it off and tried restarting it and it just clicked . So I wiggled the terminals and it started right back up and was idling normal.
Could this be the alternator going bad.? I don't understand the surging. Anyone else ever experienced this?. Or got any ideas of what to try?

 

sounds to me like you need to take apart your connections, clean them and put them back together nice and tite.

you shouldn't really be able to wiggle any connections, they are either good or they need to made good

 

I'll try it again. This truck is driving me crazy.

 

Is it a new batt.?

 

9 months

 

They tested it and said it was good but needed recharged. But the alternator had a diode stuck open. If the diode is open shouldn't it be charging all the time. I think that the guy I was dealing with was trying to get out of replacing the both of them honestly.
What really has me wondering is why it was surging and then I noticed a few minutes ago. With just the defroster on it would idle up for just a second and return to normal idle. But wouldn't do it with anything else running

 

Has it rained recently?

 

This goes way back- but when i was a kid i remember dad working on a neighbors car with a intermittent/ no start problem- ended up being corrosion IN the positive battery cable. There was enough copper left to show continuity, but not enough to carry the load when starting.- the corrosion must have acted like a resistor- new cable fixed it- i remember dad showing him the corrosion after he split the cover off of it.
Fast forward to my teens-i had a similar problem- brand new battery- i didnt hold the cable end when i tightened it up, the pulling on the through bolt cracked the inside connector on the post.- grrrr..- you could wiggle it, it was ok for a start or two, then...another new battery fixed that one- and taught me a lesson!

 

Nope. Gem us dry

 

I will check it out. I'm hoping to put a new valve cover gasket on some time this week I will make a new terminal cable while I'm at it.. and again I ask would this electric problem cause a surge in the idle