New battery,New alt -still wont charge

[krobo]

Hi , thanks for reading ;-)

ok i have a 1996 explorer ,it ran great up to a few weeks ago when driving home at night , light's got dim everything slowly died ,

i knew what was up ..

next AM i took a batt out of my truck went and swapped out the explorer batt and drove it home ..

checking the guage/neddle I noticed the bat/alt wasn't charging consistently ,needle would be up where it should ,then down in the low range ..so ok I probably need an alt ..

took it in ,they tested the alt said it was good so i bought a new bat I needed one soon anyway .. looked good for a few miles then the needle dropped again = no charge .

.ok so i figuer the v regulater in the alt is bad or what ever it is ..lol got a new alt ,installed ..needle was good in the mid to + range for 10 min or so then as soon as i drove it after about 100 yards the needle went down again to the no charge level and now its all dead again ..

so im thinking somethings up in mystery land ??

the original alt that tested fine is probably fine now that i see an brand new one is doing the same thing .but i now have a new one ..lol

i tried pulling every fuse to see if the needle would come up but had 0 results .

i also noticed when driving before the new alt after the new bat that some times the alt would be charging but only for a min or 2 then the needle would drop back down ..

Im at a loss as to where to look .. It seems like a short of some kind ,

ive searched the wiring for any type of frey also wiggled the wires to see if i can get the needle to jump ..

Help ! lol

thanks in advance for any suggestions ! ;-)

 

[ranger7ltr]

Battery clamps or cables???

Does the battery light on the dash come on????If the battery light does not come on the dash when the engine is not running you need to replace the bulb so the alternator will charge...

Also if the battery cables are corroded into the plastic covers on the cables that will not help matters either...

Are the battery grounds tight and making a good connection to the engine/frame/body???

I am not sure if the 96 has a megafuse attached to the outside of the fuse/relay panel under the hood on the drivers side but if it does I would start by seeing if that fuse is still good..I know my 99 has a 175 A fuse there...

 

[JusTheUsual]

I just wanted to throw in my bro and friends worked at advance auto parts and many times they would check a alternator and it would test good on tester but it would die in vehicle. Those testers are not that reliable or should say not all the time. It may work for tester but not in vehicle. Countless times this has happened. Also its not always the tester that is the problem. Just a bad connection wiggling in alternator can cause it also to work sometimes and sometimes not.

 

[krobo]

Hi ,thanks guys !
@ ranger7ltr , the 96 has a needle for the gauge but if im reading this right you mean the dash/ing lights when starting the car before i turn it all the way to start the 'starter motor' right ? i don't remember ever seeing one but ill go look ! if its out I still wont see it haha so ill use a flashlight ad see if i cab see the unlit icons in the dash !
[MENTION=25398]JU[/MENTION]stTheUsual , Thanks ..this is so true .. ! im thinking both alts are fine and its somthing else .. but can't rule that out !

whats strangr is thet after installing the new alt the needle was in the charge/neutral 12v or 'correct position' ..then 10 min later after driving it again sank down to no charge indication ..
This could be due to the batt being fully charged then the draw w/o a charge from the alt dropping it down >> ? IDK ,lol if it is a dash bulb is ther a good place that shows how to get into that dash ! ..ugg lol

Thanks again guys !!

 

[krobo]

Ok after checking (and looking at the diagram in the manual to find it ) the "charging system" light is deff NOT lighting up ! its right above the seat belt light next to the 1000 rpm mark on the tach ...

so now i see 3 bolts a-top the dash cluster .. can i just drop thoes out to get in there ??
This makes so mush sense now as the whole left side of the dash is and has been dark ,gas guage ectt..all dark when the lights are on so looks like i need a few bulbs !

;-)

 

[my white eddie]

no batt light and no charge but gauge works, My money is on the
green w/ red stripe wire in the charging harness. Been there and
have the bald spot to prove it. check my user name, there is a multi
page thread on it.

 

[krobo]

I just read that thread ..OMG ..this sounds like a winner .. i just replaced ALL the dash lights and still no batt light and needle showing no charge ..

However now i have a defrent type of prob ... ..kinda sad but when taking the dash cluster out you need to put the car in gear (low) to get the shifter out of the way .. so with no batt connected ,ing on and car in 1st she rolled out of the driveway while i was at the part store and struck a tree !!

destroyed the rear end window and part of the top ! / good news is i only paid $500.00 for it to have a car for the teenagers to drive .. its not looking so good now but at least its not the rainy season ! still fires up (until batt's dead) and runs good but ...sigh ... i guess ill check the wires at some point ..but for now im over it !!!

 

[Flash]

Ok after checking (and looking at the diagram in the manual to find it ) the "charging system" light is deff NOT lighting up ! its right above the seat belt light next to the 1000 rpm mark on the tach ...

;-)

You need that light to supply a load to energise the field so the alternator will fire up.

I'd be checking the terminals and cables and grounds too.