Not charging, new almost everything
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Not charging, new almost everything
Thank y'all for looking! I'm loosing my hair over this truck. First issue I had with the truck was that it wasn't starting. I replaced the solenoid and vr. Was now getting some movement but no crank. Replaced starter and it fired up. Drove it daily for a few weeks with no issues.
Left my lights on and the batt died. Could not be charged so replaced it with a correctly sized batt for my motor. All was good for 2 weeks. Now it's not starting again.
Got a jump and it fired right up. Drive to the bar to celebrate and would not start. Went back into said bar and drank my electrical sorrows away. Tried to get another jump in the morning but nothing. Trickle charged it and it fired up but batt was only reading 12.4 VDC. left it running but never went past that even with slight caressing of the loud pedal. I've had the alt checked and it benches fine. I'm at a loss...
Left my lights on and the batt died. Could not be charged so replaced it with a correctly sized batt for my motor. All was good for 2 weeks. Now it's not starting again.
Got a jump and it fired right up. Drive to the bar to celebrate and would not start. Went back into said bar and drank my electrical sorrows away. Tried to get another jump in the morning but nothing. Trickle charged it and it fired up but batt was only reading 12.4 VDC. left it running but never went past that even with slight caressing of the loud pedal. I've had the alt checked and it benches fine. I'm at a loss...
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From: Virginia
I see you have a voltmeter. Let's use it to do some testing.
1. With the engine off, take a reading on the large output terminal of the alternator. You should have battery voltage there. If you don't, the fusible link is blown in that wire.
2. Turn the key to run but do not start the engine. You should see a "gen" light of some sort light up in the dash. If you don't this could be a problem. Go out to the regulator and put your meter on the "I" terminal(I believe it's a green/red wire). When you start the engine and let it run, you should have 12v on this "I" terminal wire. If you do not, the alternator system will not come "online" and charge.
1. With the engine off, take a reading on the large output terminal of the alternator. You should have battery voltage there. If you don't, the fusible link is blown in that wire.
2. Turn the key to run but do not start the engine. You should see a "gen" light of some sort light up in the dash. If you don't this could be a problem. Go out to the regulator and put your meter on the "I" terminal(I believe it's a green/red wire). When you start the engine and let it run, you should have 12v on this "I" terminal wire. If you do not, the alternator system will not come "online" and charge.
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I'll get to that testing when I'm around the truck again in 5 or so hrs. That fusible link, u speak of, is that a wire with an inline fuse in it. Excuse my ignorance. I work on multi million dollar electronics for a living and this $1000 truck is eatin my lunch. I assume they are available at orielys.
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From: Virginia
Fusible links are colored rubber things in the wire. They do act like fuses, but really they are just smaller pieces of wire soldered into the regular wire that are made to burn out if something bad happens. They are tougher than fuses, eliminating nuisance fuse blowing, and they can handle a lot of current before burning out. They really only give trouble when someone works on the vehicle without disconnecting the battery, or a really bad wiring problem that shorts the wire out. They are available at the local parts stores. The one in the alternator wire is easy to burn out if you change out the alternator without disconnecting the battery, and accidentally touch the output wire to ground.
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Ok, batt voltage is still 12.61 VDC. Alt batt term is 12.49.
I missed where you mentioned the gen light earlier. My truck does not have this indicator. Also you asked me to take a reading from the 'i' terminal. There is no wire going to the 'i' term. Instead there are two wires going into the 'a' term which reads 12 VDC. All of this done with the key in run. I never tried to fire it up since it seems I have a different wire configuration than that which you described.
I missed where you mentioned the gen light earlier. My truck does not have this indicator. Also you asked me to take a reading from the 'i' terminal. There is no wire going to the 'i' term. Instead there are two wires going into the 'a' term which reads 12 VDC. All of this done with the key in run. I never tried to fire it up since it seems I have a different wire configuration than that which you described.
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From: Virginia
Ok, since you have a earlier truck, I assumed you had the dash light type wiring. Ford wired their alternators two different ways. You must have a gauge in the dash and have the ammeter type wiring.
The system still needs a trigger from the keyswitch to charge. On your system you should have the same green/red on the "s" terminal of the alternator. Make sure you have 12v on the "s" terminal of the regulator with the key in run, engine running or not running.
The system still needs a trigger from the keyswitch to charge. On your system you should have the same green/red on the "s" terminal of the alternator. Make sure you have 12v on the "s" terminal of the regulator with the key in run, engine running or not running.
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From: Virginia
With the engine running you should have battery voltage on the "A", and the "S". The "A" is the feedback sensing for the regulator, and the "S" is the trigger from the key to bring the system online.
After that, with the engine running, check the voltage on the "F" terminal. This terminal controls the output of the alternator. Less voltage means less output. It's hard to say what the voltage will be, but you should have some on the "F" terminal. If you don't, I would suspect the regulator may be bad. And just for verification purposes, you can take the "F" wire off the alternator(tape it and make sure it doesn't ground out), and make a jumper and jump the "F" terminal of the alternator to the battery +. This will throw the alternator into wide open charge and the voltage on the battery should rise up fairly high. Don't leave it on too long, but this is just if you want to make double sure the alternator is good.
After that, with the engine running, check the voltage on the "F" terminal. This terminal controls the output of the alternator. Less voltage means less output. It's hard to say what the voltage will be, but you should have some on the "F" terminal. If you don't, I would suspect the regulator may be bad. And just for verification purposes, you can take the "F" wire off the alternator(tape it and make sure it doesn't ground out), and make a jumper and jump the "F" terminal of the alternator to the battery +. This will throw the alternator into wide open charge and the voltage on the battery should rise up fairly high. Don't leave it on too long, but this is just if you want to make double sure the alternator is good.
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Alright so the readings are as follows with the engine running.
S 12.19 VDC
F .01 VDC
A 12.43 VDC and dropping
Batt 12.39 VDC
These where taken from the connector that goes to the VR disconnected which should explain the dropping voltage if I'm not mistaken.
S 12.19 VDC
F .01 VDC
A 12.43 VDC and dropping
Batt 12.39 VDC
These where taken from the connector that goes to the VR disconnected which should explain the dropping voltage if I'm not mistaken.
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