My new 347

[4pointslow]

Alternator

Make sure the metal plate on the back is ok, I have heard that if it gets bent it can touch the diodes or something on the back of the alternator and it wont charge.

How old is it any way?

 

[Dono]

Its only a couple years old. Very few miles on it.
It was a very inexpensive unit, like $40.00 new. Not reman.

 

[vroomzoomboom]

Its only a couple years old. Very few miles on it.
It was a very inexpensive unit, like $40.00 new. Not reman.

from???? hell, i had to shell out $115 for mine last year, and it was a reman.

 

[Dono]

Its not the alternator.
I just dropped a new one in.

Now I'm really confused. At the ignition lead on the alternator I get voltage with the ignition on, and no voltage with ignition off. Perfect.

Both other terminals at the alternator have voltage. Yet, with the motor running I'm only seeing 12.2 volts. No charging happening. I don't know where to even start looking now.

edit: The alternator looked new, but I could clearly see that someone else had installed it once before. I wonder what the odds are of the new one being bad?

 

[4pointslow]

new bad

I bought an alternator from autozone for my 2004.
Guy tested it two times and it failed, he said he was doing something wrong so tested it again and said it passed. Then he said he had to test it three times so two more times he tested it and said it passed. I took it home and put it on. It worked for 5 minutes and then stopped working. I got a refund.

My original problem was the alternator light was coming on intermittently, but it was still charging. lol.
I put the original one back in and it is still working now, no light anymore. Go figure.

 

[Dono]

Do you think I'm missing something simple? There is only 3 connections, a belt, and a battery. I don't get it. I'll try another one.

 

[Dono]

Ground issue.
I cleaned all points that the alternator mounts to the bracket. Still didn't work.

Then, with the truck running I measured alternator negative to B+, and measured less than a volt. That's not right.

So, I jumped a wire from the alternator frame to the negative post on the battery.....Charges now. How about that?

Next step, pull the entire alternator bracket and clean all mounting points. The reason I need to do this is that the bracket is powdercoated, and I obviously should have cleaned the mount points off the first time.

A bit of a puzzle, but I'm pretty sure I have the solution now.

 

[Turdle]

Powdercoated ground connection? who would have done that?

To be honest it never crossed my mind, But I will remember now.

The alternator should ground to the bracket ok via the bolts, But I can see where the ground is lost between the bracket and cylinder head.

Dohp!

 

[CDW6212R]

Interesting, powder coating can stop current flow, and we like to coat everything hmm? It's a good lesson we'll all remember.

 

[Dono]

Confirmed.
Pulled the bracket, cleaned up all points that ground to the head and the points that ground to the bolt. Alternator works now.

Funny that my meter showed there was continuity, and ground with the ignition off, but different story when running. Interesting fault, I learned something.

Now, back to the regularly scheduled program... Get the front diff in and hood on. Tomorrow.

 

[Dono]

I drove around today running some errands.
My truck is acting very strange.

When stopped at a red light, there is no smoke, and no smell of oil burning on the exhaust. Also, when stopped for a few minutes there is no puddle of oil on the ground. My mighty explorer has not behaved like this in well over a year.

Obviously I would not recommend the Mr Gasket ultra leak head gaskets to anyone. My personal experience (The same one you have all lived with me) says not to use them.

I don't want to be over confident, but so far so good.

I did get in a fight with my front dif while jacking it up in to position. between lying under the truck, balancing the diff on the jack, and trying to pump the jack handle all at the same time the fight started. If you could call it winning, I did finally get the diff in place. In a fight there rarely is a true winner, and I'm sporting a bit of a black eye now. Do you think I should have asked for help from someone to at least work the jack for me? Insert idiot emoji here. At least I'll heal, and hopefully in a few days there will be little sign of the fight I had.

Once I get the garage cleaned up and Tim's picker and engine stand back to him I can get back to tuning/turning up the boost, and tuning some more.

 

[vroomzoomboom]

hmmmm.......first time it hasn't smoked or leaked oil....first time i couldn't help you.....
hmmmmmmmmmm.....

 

[4pointslow]

Up and running

Just glad you are up and running again!
No more oil leak, that's a relief!

 

[Dono]

I think I can close this off, unless I do something really stupid.
After doing some wot pulls, I did a quick health check on the motor.

Coolant? Rad is full, and coolant in the overflow is at the appropriate level
Oil? Looks exactly like I put it in a week ago. Same level and color.

I've read all kinds of horror story's about mls gaskets, even from guys that had heads and block prepped for them. So far, my experience is excellent.

Could it be I'm where I should have been a year ago finally?

 

[Dono]

I can get just a set of 7/16" (At least I think they are 7/16") adjusting nuts, so the cost will be minimal.

 

[4pointslow]

Is that a rocker arm nut?

 

[Dono]

yup

 

[boominXplorer]

It's either 3/8 or 7/16. I haven't read through the whole build thread but I do know you have aftermarket heads. What brand rocker arms do you have?

 

[Dono]

The heads are TW170's and the rockers are Comp Cams Gold.
I'm certain that they are 7/16".
The package came from Flow Tech Inductions, and I think that the 7/16 is all that Ed carries.
Here's the link: http://www.flowtechinduction.com/ultra-gold-aluminum-rocker-arms-sb-ford-1-60/

So, I figured if I over tightened one, there must be more cracked also.
I kept checking, and found a second one cracked on the same bank.

I did my best to talk myself out of checking the other valve cover as its an absolute brute to get off. I really had no choice though, as if there were two on one bank, the odds were pretty good that there would be a problem on the other side as well.

I'm glad I lived the pain as there was one cracked on that side also. I stole a good nut from the drivers side, set preload, and tightened the lock to 20ft lbs. That seems to be the only number I can find.
The passenger side is buttoned back up now, so I only have the one bank to deal with.

All in all, this is a pretty small thing.

 

[CDW6212R]

Wow, what was the symptom? That shouldn't happen with those high end parts and the rpm level. Smaller rocker studs like the factory 5/16" bolts, or 7000rpm have lots of problems compared to 7/16" studs and only 6000rpm.

Is there anything to read about other rocker nuts like those with issues? Those are surely on thousands of engines.