no electrical power

[dbowling47]

Ok drove to work turned truck off tried to start it two minutes later no power,no lights or anything. Hooked up some jumper cables started right up. After this I figured it was the battery upon inspection the positive terminal was realy hot it seemed to have welded the conector to the post.Ok got the battery out switched to new battery still nothing. Pulled starter and cables all checked out cables are less than six months old. After many hours of searching I decided to cut positive connector off and install new one,this worked for about five days. Now Im back to square one turn key and total power loss,with key off under hood light works turn key and it goes out does the same thing when I turn headlights on. I would take to dealer but with all these symptoms they could sell a complete ignition system when it could just be a bad wire and I wouldnt be the wiser.Please Help.

 

[88vert]

How is the solinoid?

 

[Paul Gagnon]

I had something similar happen. Check the connector on the alternator side of the positive battery cable to see if it is loose or damaged.

 

[dbowling47]

Ok I checked all the basics and decided maybe my stereo amp wire was causing a problem so i disconnected it from the battery and put it all back together and the truck started and ran fine for about a week then tonight same problem. Now I did discover that when the key is turned on the battery positive terminal gets realy hot and when the key is turned off it cools back down.I also disconected the altenator wires but this didnt change the heated up battery. Help Im begining to get discouraged.

 

[dogfriend]

Lots of heat means you are drawing lots of current somewhere. Like a direct short to ground. The fact that the key is on when it heats up gives you a clue that it is in a circuit which is key switched. Check voltage at the starter solenoid and/or the starter circuit because a short there would pull a lot of current. Also check the circuits that are key switched at the distribution block. You should have battery voltage between the hot side and ground. If you have low voltage (or no voltage) then you have a short in that circuit.