Personally, I think you a jumping the gun on everything. A battery works off of chemical reactions. Molecules move slower at colder temperatures. Slower molecuels means less battery power, resulting in your lights dimming when cold. As you said, as the truck warms up, the lights dim less. This is because the engine compartment is warming up, which warms your battery and speeds up the molecules within the battery.

If this is really causing a problem with your engine starting, look into a battery heater. However, I have never used one and dont know how well they work, so dont burn me if they're a waste of money.

 

Funny... it's still cold out... thanks for your 2cents. I'm going to keep an eye on things and run it for a while. I don't think I'll venture out into the deep woods (out of Cell phone range) if I go hunting this weekend though.

 

That would be a good idea. You could pick up a battery charger as well and connect it overnight to charge the battery.

 

Only thing is I've had the truck since new. And driven it in -35°C (-31°F) without ever having issues.

 

When your daytime running lights are on are your dash lights also on?
If so, do you have a seperate dash indicator to differentiate between daytime lights/headlights?

 

The dash lights are not on when the daytime running lights are. I have to turn on the "parking" lights to get dash illumination (just like a vehicle without daytime running lights).

 

Good.
My wife drives a Lexus with DRL, her dash lights are also on by default and I'm afraid they are going to lead to an accident.

There is a icon in the dash that illuminates when the actual headlights are on.
Whenever I ride with her I have to remind her to turn her lights on at dusk.
The car also has an 'auto on' feature which she never uses.

She can see her dash display clearly and the DRLs provide miniscule illumination.
So, she is riding around with nothing 'lit-up' in the back unitil she hits the brakes.

I really wish her dash wouldn't light up until she actually turned on her headlights.
Most people think about not seeing their dash before they think about not being seen.
Very bad idea by Lexus.

 

I agree... the simpler things get... the more complicated they get...

 

After driving with the new ACDelco alternator for a week I figure the battery should have come to charge. I now notice that my lights no longer flicker but occasionally the lights dim and the heater fans slow down? Then they brighten up and return to normal. This even happens if the truck is well warmed. It doesn't seem like the motor stalls or slows, just the electrical.

Ideas?

 

The occasional dimming could be the AC turning on if you have "climate control" if it senses your inside temperature is too hot. I think it takes a fair bit of power to engage the AC clutch.

Beyond that, nothing comes to mind, but it's clear something is putting a momentary electrical load on your system.

I think your DRLs will not light up if your parking brake is on. I know many people don't use the parking brake while parked, but this would reduce the load on your battery during starting. Of course now if you're parked in a "dark" place and you have your headlight switch set to the "Auto" position, then ALL your lights will come on as soon as the ignition switch moves into (and past) ON.

- Jack

 

Make sure you did not get a bad battery. A quick way to test it is to check the battery voltage right after you shut the engine off, then turn on your headlights for about 3-5 minutes, turn off the lights and check the battery voltage. Normally the battery will have about 13.5Vdc right after shutdown and after you shut the lights off the voltage shouldnt be lower than 12.5Vdc if it is the battery may have a weak cell.