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altenator?

the only thing that i could think of is that the altenator is putting out the right voltage but not the right amperage, and i do not have a ammeter that can measure up to 140 amps, i do know that the spec is that below 59 amps it is a bad altenator
 



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ok, still tracking something down, replaced the altenator with a 60 dollar JY one thats been tested for amperage, still no start, but once it starts, it runs GREAT, only problem is, cant get it to start. any ideas on how to get this beast cranked?
 






Unless I'm missing something, I have not seen anything that says you charged either of the batteries. I know the Walmart battery is new but it could have been low from sitting on the shelf. You also said it started ten times or so and then it went dead. Were these ten consecutive starts or did you drive the car for a while in between start-ups? You said it started with a jump after being connected to another car and that the lights went from dim to bright. To me that screams discharged or dead battery. The fact that the lights got bright and it continued to run tells me that your original alternator was just fine, as well as your starter. Charge it overnight and see what happens.
 






Sounds to me like a bad ground or cable.

Have you checked continuity across your grounds/battery cables?
 






I have continuity through all the cables,the new battery was on the charger, still no starting, all of the starts were with driving, and just as a "test", I hooked it up to a known good system on my friends explorer and it did not start his.
 






have you load tested the battery?

from what i have read in this thread, i suspect it's a bad battery. i got one from wal-mart once, lasted 2 to 3 months then would stay charged. took it back and replaced it, no problems for 3 years when i sold the car. it was a 950 cca maxx (the yellow one).
 






i seem to have some sort of little gremlin hiding in this rig, NEW battery, NEW altenator, and NEW starter, hook everything up, none of the interior lights come on and one of the relays under the dash keeps clicking, turn the dimmer off and the 4x4CM starts clicking, could it be possible that the GEM fried?
 






i have personally given up on trying to fix it myself, we will be renewing out AAA and the rig will be getting towed to the shop, when i have more info i will update on what it was and how it was fixed with the what seems to be the most recent problem, but it could have been the issue from the start, i wont know but i will update with more info when i have it. thank you for all the help everyone has been, you guys are great!
 






have you load tested the battery?

From what i have read in this thread, i suspect it's a bad battery. I got one from wal-mart once, lasted 2 to 3 months then would stay charged. Took it back and replaced it, no problems for 3 years when i sold the car. It was a 950 cca maxx (the yellow one).

ditto!
 






brand new battery, took it back, it ended up having 2 bad cells, with the new battery now nothing but clicking so its going to the shop
 






got it back from the shop, turned out it was stupid issue. bad ground, runs like a champ
 






For future reference, could a temporary ground be easily done for testing? I have 3 gen 2s with many miles left on 2 of them and may run up against this.
 






What I was told from the shop is that is was a bad ground at the battery
 






Fishwish3,

We have all done similiar things. Sometimes we assume something is good without checking. We say our connections are good meaning the two at the battery, but there are two more on the other ends that we don't think about. Several posts mentioned connection issues and DHKMOM48 specifically said grounds so I guess he/she gets the prize. Thanks for manning up and letting us know what the issue was. This may save someone time and money in the future. Glad all is good, have a good one.

Ed
 






They said it was a bad ground at the battery, this was caused by something I never could of seen, it was the corrosion under the wire insulation that I never could of seen and therefore did not suspect.
 






corrosion under the wire insulation that I never could of seen and therefore did not suspect.

I hear this used to be a major problem with the first gens. I have personally had the starter motor wires corrode near the motor myself. A good way to check for internal corrosion might be to disable the fuel pump and crank the engine for a few seconds. While checking the voltage drop across the cable/connection in question. The higher currents flowing during starter usage would help to amplify any voltage drops. You shouldn't have any greater than 0.2 V for the most part I believe.
 






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