new batter cables, no juice

[twwgigi]

OK we ran all new battery cables, now there is no juice what so ever. So I need to know exactly what wires hook to the starter relay, and to which bolts they go. I think my brother forgot to label them and now I think that could be the problem. Thanks in advance.

 

[DeRocha]

Where are you testing for power (the fender mounted starter relay, Starter solenoid (on the starter), or starter itself?

Have you confirmed 12v are reaching the starter solenoid?

 

[twwgigi]

back to the beginning

Ok, got that fixed. My brother had the wires on the relay backwards, I switched them and now it runs fine. However, we are back to the voltmeter on the dash not reading in the middle, it's just left of the n. And the battery light is on. That is what started all of this. OK so we have new battery cables, new battery, and a new alternator. Any ideas on what is causing it to read low?

 

[Willard]

maybe it's the gauge itself?

 

[Charlie]

Does it start the car up fine?

 

[twwgigi]

runs

Yeah, it starts fine. Going to run it up to autozone to see if they have any ideas. Will check here when I get back.

 

[BrooklynBay]

Here is my response to your PM: Check the voltage with a digital multimeter (DMM) while the truck is running. Your voltage should be about 13.5-14.5 volts. If not, then we will have to troubleshoot this further. Your wiring might be defective.

 

[twwgigi]

further testing

I will have to take it up tomorrow, the two guys working tonight don't know what they are doing. I can tell you driving it around (about 8 miles) my battery went completely down. So the "new' alternator is not working. Also in driving, I used the electric windows and my tach jumped like the volt meter usually does. Weird. Going to call a mechanic friend of mine to see if he has any clue. Got all sorts of ideas floating around here including the idea that my voltage regulator is bad. Any ideas? I will bounce them off Joe tomorrow.

 

[Spdrcer34]

If your tach jumped like that, I'm going to say it's a ground problem.

a BAD ground problem.

Ryan

 

[DeRocha]

Sounds like you will also need to confirm all the wires removed were correctly re-installed.. Whenever I am working on my car and need to remember stuff I take out the digital camera and take some close up shots of the stuff thats confusing. Definitely helps when putting stuff back together a few days down the road with its not as fresh in you mind..

 

[twwgigi]

Its running!!!

Called my mechanic friend this morning. He told me to double check my fuses under the hood. So we pulled all the big ones, they were all fine. We pull the two 15 amp fuses at the top of the box, and sure enough, the one that was labeled for the light under the hood was blown. Turns out, according to my friend, the box must have been labeled wrong, that was my alternator fuse!!!! It's running great now!!

Thanks to all of you, especially BrooklynBay. You are all the best!!!

 

[BrooklynBay]

Thanks for the update!