2000 Dodge Dakota Help

[skeeder62]

I was driving back from NC this evening and my voltage gauge on the dash jumped up to 18v, triggering my "check gauge" light. I pulled off the road, cut the truck off, then restarted to find the voltage level normal. I drove down a few more miles and kept a close watch on the gauge. It started to slowly move upwards, then quickly jumped back to 18v.

I pulled into a gas station and left the truck running, and on it's own it went down to normal (14v range). I doubled back to an advanced auto parts store to have them check my alternator, in order to see if it was overcharging the battery.

The alternator checked out, but while removing the testing unit we discovered my ground cable was loose, to the point it could be removed by hand without loosening the bolt. I tightened that and drove back home to Charleston, approximately 1.5 hours, without any other issues.

Could the loose ground have caused the voltage to spike like that, or "tricked" the gauge into thinking it was being overcharged? It seems to me that the ground being loose would have done the opposite, and caused the gauge to think the battery was low, or non-existent at that point. Any ideas would be helpful.

Thanks

[KRT]

The loose ground was your issue. Ride on sir....