Dimming issue volume 2.

[Blacksheep Josh]

Well I'm still having a dimming problem...

Here's what's new:
-Battery (less then a week old, last battery tested bad, 2nd battery in two years)
-Alternator is less then 6 months old and is putting out what it should.
-Positive cables from battery to starter, battery to solenoid, and solenoid to starter.
-I have also installed a 4 gauge battery cable running from the battery to the back of the alternator.

The gauge will read on the N-O on "Normal" on the battery gauge, and occasionally dip down between the 8 and "N". Sometimes (doesn't happen as often) going over a bump in the road the gauge will move and everything will brighten like it should be, but then go back down.

I've fiddled with the wires on the solenoid on the firewall, meaning the wires that go to the positive side of the battery, and also the wire that leads off of the solenoid and goes to the fusebox under the hood. It seems that whenever I mess with those wires the gauge reads normal, but I can't be positive because I'm not in two places at once and can't confirm that yet.

So I guess my question is this, could the wire that goes from teh solenoid to the fusebox under the hood (providing power to the fuses there) be the cause of hte dimming? could that wire corrode as the others do? Or should I start looking else where?

Also, when the guy at Advance Auto replaced the battery, as he was tightening down the battery cable/terminal his wrench slipped and touched the solenoid and letting a few sparks fly. When I tried it after that it started up fine, but could that have caused this problem to be even worse? (This whole charging issue was happening before he did that though, so I don't think it's related)

I'm out of ideas... I'm just going to start replacing the Negative battery cables over the next few days, and then maybe try replacing that cable going to the fuse box, other then that I'm not sure what to think.

 

[Verno]

Josh, I'd first change out the Neg side cable. Verify you have good ground straps from engine to frame and engine to firewall also. Sometimes these work loose.

 

[Tbars4]

...A bad ground wire is probably the cause...

...Your ground wire is the most important link to any electrical system and should never be overlooked...Well that, and good connections....

...You might want to pull and check your relay's and fuses under the hood....I've had them make bad contact before...You will also have 1 relay just for the charging system...

 

[Blacksheep Josh]

Josh, I'd first change out the Neg side cable. Verify you have good ground straps from engine to frame and engine to firewall also. Sometimes these work loose.

I will hopefully get to this on Friday. Read below as to what I did today, I somewhat fixed the problem.

1. ...A bad ground wire is probably the cause...

2. ...Your ground wire is the most important link to any electrical system and should never be overlooked...Well that, and good connections....

3. ...You might want to pull and check your relay's and fuses under the hood....I've had them make bad contact before...You will also have 1 relay just for the charging system...

1. That's what I'm thinking to. I installed a new battery terminal and there was a lot of corrosion (changed the battery terminal in 2005, so it's been a while).

2. Indeed.

3. All the fuses have been pulled/checked, and as far as the relays go how do I check that they're working properly? Use a volt meter and test it???

Today I installed a new battery terminal on the negative side of the battery, not the terminal installed in the battery, but where the wires connect to it. The terminal I bought was to big for it, so I had to tighten it way down, hopefully on Friday when I replaced the chassis/ground wire I'll have the funds to also buy a mini torch so I can install a hook like this one:

I call it "welded in", I'd rather have that style (same as my positive side) then just the loose wires crimped into place. I'm also looking at installing wing nut terminals to make removal/replacement easier. Plus I plan on adding on more accessories this summer.

I also discovered today, that the wire going from the firewall (body ground?) to the negative side of the battery looks to be about a 6 gauge wire or so... Which I think is ridiculous, I'm going to upgrade that wire, and also the main cable coming off the negative side.

Also looking at the Big 3 upgrade as well while I'm at it, I have the cable coming off of the alternator to the + side of the battery all ready, just have to install the ground for the alternator, body, and frame, or at least replace the old ones.

Thanks for sticking with it guys, I know this is a long read, but I knwo if it's happening to me, it's either happening or going to happen to someone else.

-josh

whew. thank god that's over.

 

[Willard]

For the price of a torch, why not just buy a new cable? And trust me, soldering the end onto one of those is a major PITA, even with a torch.

 

[Blacksheep Josh]

If I can find the cable long enough with the end I want on it all ready, I will.

I need to solder the end of one of the positive wires I have, it's just stuck in between the terminal on the battery and the part you tighten down... I'd like to make it cleaner, but I may see if I can find a local shop willing to do it. I've seen it done before, he heated up the end, stuck in what looked like a solder made of silver, then stuck the wire in, didn't seem that hard.

 

[Blacksheep Josh]

Today I finally replaced my negative battery cable, negative battery post, negative battery terminal, all that good stuff. I also cut off, stripped, and added new ends to the two little wires that connect to the terminal just to be sure. Also added an additional ground from the body (fender innerwall) to the cable...

After I had done all this, I was still having a problem with the needle going berserk and everything dimming and charging back up randomnly... So remember that a few months back I replaced the battery to solenoid, solenoid to starter, and starter to solenoid wires, and while I was at it I added a wire from the alternator to the battery because I had upgraded my alternator...

Well I was thinking "maybe the alternator is charging the battery to fast or something and that's what's going on"... so I removed the wire, and presto, everything is working flawlessly now. I'm attributing it to only adding teh wire from the alternator to the battery, and not the additional grounds or whatever... But it's working, and thats what counts.

 

[Four0Sport]

good to hear everythigns back to normal.. maybe you can ask a mod to merge this and the other thread you had going about what length the negative cable is?