Charging System Failure..

[CdnCory]

*sorry for the long post*
Incase you are not up to speed with my problems, my other thread is here.
I did not have the money to buy the whole new set of wires, so what I did was strip the wires back, sprayed it with some 'battery maintenance' spray to get the corrosion off, crimped and soldered on some ring connectors, then coated all of the stripped wire with dielectric grease, heat shrinked it all together and bolted it all up to a wing bolt terminal (I didnt get around to running the alt-batt). Now, first thing I noticed was that my in dash voltage meter was very low (around the n on 'normal'). I tested it with a DMM and it read 12.5 (which is what it was before, but the indash meter was reading higher before). So I was driving home, and about 1/2 hour into the drive i noticed a dash light flickering on and off so I turned off my stereo and heater and driving lights. A few mins later the ABS light turns on. Then my tach stops working. Once I got into town, I turn off my headlights alltogether and everytime I had to stop, it nearly stalled everytime I accelerated. Now what I am wondering is if my alt finally died altogether (just by chance at the same time I fixed my wiring), or is it somehow related to my rewiring (even though I am SURE the connections are way better now)?

 

[Glacier991]

Where's Mr. Shorty when you need him ! <g>

 

[Doug]

It could be your alternator, or the wiring job you did, or you could have a bad battery. If you have a MM you can ohm out the battery cable and make sure there isnt alot of resistance in it. To do this you'll have to remove the cable from the truck. I'd also check the alternator. Put your MM on the battery and see what reading you get. Start up the truck and the voltage should jump up to something in the 14v range. but check the battery cables first and make sure they're good. the cables dont always go bad at the ends, sometimes they can go bad in the middle of the cable.

 

[CdnCory]

I went down down to a local parts store today to get things checked out. Before I went, I checked the batt voltage. It was 11.5. Once I started it, it jumped out to 13.8. So I drove down to the store, and after that it wouldnt go past 12.5. The batt is rated for 875 CCA, and it showed over 1100. He checked the voltage at the alt, and it was putting out near 14 V. So I have no idea whats goin on here...

*all readings were with everything turned off

Doug: so I should d/c the wire at the alt, solenoid and batt? Because I believe that that is all one wire.

Cory

 

[Doug]

I'd check all the battery cables. If there is alot of resistance over one of the wires, you're not getting all the power through the cable that you should be. It could also be the alternator, when my alternator went bad it would still charge the battery but intermittantly it would stop working all together. I'd be driving down the road and the truck would actually die and then start right back up. I'd also get my battery light coming on every so often.

 

[CdnCory]

The only wire I could see that I need to check would be the one going form batt - solenoid - alt because really thats the one I must be having problems with. The other one goes batt - starter.

*EDIT: I just tested the resistance from batt-alt and it is 0. anything else to try while everyhting is disconnected?

Also, the ground cable - alt resistance is .1

 

[CdnCory]

Everything seems to be working somewhat better now... though I still cannot get my voltage above 12.5. And also, since that incident my fuel gauge has stopped working, it fluctuates between E and way past full. Does anyone know what might have happened, I want to fix whatever the problem is because who knows when I'll be left stranded....

Cory

 

[cjbarron5]

i would suggest pulling the alt and having it tested off the truck same with the battery.........sounds like either a bad voltage regulator or a bad diode trio

 

[ThespecialistKC]

Given the erratic gauge readings and all the other problems, I would search high and low for bad grounds as well. I've had similar problems on other vehicles, all related to poor or non-existant grounds. It can drive you crazy..... trust me.