Replaced Alternator, still no charge 95 Ranger

[drummertom]

I went through every test I could fine regarding the alternator. Replaced it and same problem. Had parts store check my old alt and tested good, so I put the old one back on. Checked all my connections with voltage readings. Checked all my fuses and they were good. Had battery voltage at at large terminal on the alt and the Y/W wire from the fuse box. My buddy read something about having 5V on the R/G wire from the instrument cluster, which I didn't. Pulled my cluster and had a broken trace going to that place on the connector.; Repaired that and now all is well. By the way, went to LKQ and EVERY ranger/Exploder with a no tach gauge cluster was pulled. Do these things fail often?. Anyway, I'm fixed.

 

[Tbars4]

:scratch:...after reading your post, I'm not exactly sure what your original issue was. Dead battery, no voltage gauge, no start, no charging?

It might help others if you add a little detail and that to the beginning of your first post.

I have a 95 and am always interested in what issues come up on others vehicles. :biggthump

 

[drummertom]

:scratch:...after reading your post, I'm not exactly sure what your original issue was. Dead battery, no voltage gauge, no start, no charging?

It might help others if you add a little detail and that to the beginning of your first post.

I have a 95 and am always interested in what issues come up on others vehicles. :biggthump

Sorry, I'll give more details. It all started when I took my instrument cluster apart to see why my odometer didn't work, but I didn't realize that till later. I was driving home after dark and my dash lights weren't working because I left them unplugged since I was going to take it back apart anyway to replace the odometer gear. Truck started running rough and died. Hooked up a jumpstart box and it would start but wouldn't run with the lights on, because,of course, the alt wasn't charging. Had it towed home, verified I was not getting a charge from the alt. Replaced it and of course had the same problem. Had parts store check the alt and it checked out fine. Re-installed the old alt, checked all connections, voltages and everything I could think of and that's when a friend of mine read that the wire from instrument cluster is supposed to be +5 Volts, which it wasn't. took the instrument cluster apart and found a broken trace that went to the volt gauge. went to the local pick-a -part and every ranger/explorer had the instrument cluster missing, so these must be a high failure rate. Well then I soldered the broken trace back together, replaced the odometer gear and re-assembled, and been fine since. By the way, the odometer gear is an easy fix and you can get the gear from ebay, so that is another fix we can add.

 

[Tbars4]

Thanks for all the info, it makes a lot more sense now..

..and for those looking to dig into their cluster or fix their odometer, speedometer, this might be of help

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums...s-odometer-trip-meter-no-fixed-w-pics.293463/