I don't fully trust the P O's work on much of this truck. It's got a swapped in 460 from a Lincoln. My wiring is a mess and I'm not even sure if it's a real issue on this problem. I noticed my battery which keeps dying every few days, has what looks like a spilled substance on top. Could this be fluid from inside leaking out? The battery is a Tractor Supply Company special about 1 year old. All my connections are clean and none of my wiring appears burnt or missing. I haven't pulled the alt yet to get it tested, but I had it tested about 2 years ago and it was OK then. I figure get both the battery and the alt tested and see where we go from here.

Is there a way to chase down a power draining wire?? I disconnected the tach and radio leads as they were directly connected to the battery terminals. I did this last week. The battery still ended up dying again after I had recharged it. It's on trickle charge now and appears like it may not be taking a full charge any more. Used to charge up overnight or a little longer, now it's been 2 days and still not finished.

About that substance on top of the battery. I thought all maintenance free batts didn't need to be topped off like older batts. Could mine somehow be leaking from the top and now be low on water or whatever inside, affecting the charging somehow?

I don't know how it all works, trying to get an idea of where and what to go after.

Thanks for any input you guys may have,

Blair

 

To see if you have a drain, try this simple little test remove the negative cable from the battery and connect a 12 volt test lamp between the cable and te post on the battery. Make sure all lihts etc are turned off. If the bulb shines brightly theres a drain somewhere. Sounds like you do have a problem with that battery since it's leaking & wont take a charge.

 

Fluid on top may be from overcharging. When you get it charged up test the output with a multimeter and see if it is charging over 15V and get a decent automotive battery. Also the voltage regulator could be drawing down the battery.. a fairly common situation. Hook a test lamp between the negative cable and the negative post with the negative cable disconnected and see if the test lamp illuminates. Momentarily touch the negative cable end to the negative post to drain any residual and see if the light comes back on bright. If so there is a draw. If that is the case I would disconnect the voltage regulator first and see if the lamp goes out.

 

If the light burns at the Negative post and cable, Remove each fuse till it goes out. That will narrow it down to where it is coming from.

You can also have a bad Rectifier and it is discharging back over night. Check it with a Ohm meter it should read only one way each connection.

You can check the regulator easy. Check voltage when off and the battery should be at 12~12.5 volts, Start it up at idle it should read 12.5~12.9 then raise RPM to 2000 and it should read 13.5~14.2 volts.

 

Guys, I went to start looking for the problem today. I didn't exactly know where the rectifier was, let alone what it looks like. I just thought it would be in my trusty manuel. Could someone tell me where the rectifier is? Having a hard time understanding the manuels wiring diagrams. Thanks a bunch. Blair

 

It's inside the Alt. You will have to take it off to check it. There are three screws is that hold the halfs together. It is located on the back half with three wires connected to it.

 

Why are you looking for the rectifier? Did you find a drain at the alternator or find that the alternator is not charging?

 

I pulled the negative cable, hooked up the test light between the neg terminal and the neg post. The test light just barely lit up. I can't find my Dad's old multimeter that he gave me, so I need to pick one up before we can continue. Franklin2, I was just trying to figure it out from what others had said at the Auto Zone when I stopped in. The guy there said it sounds as if the rectifier is acting as an open circuit? Not one way. (If I'm understanding his explanation correctly.) My neighbor seems to agree about that too, but I would rather figure it out for myself. I plan on starting out up top with the regulator, if nothing jumps out at me, I'll start pulling fuses and try to figure it out.

Many thanks for your time and input,

Blair

 

Before you go throwing money at new stuff, did you pull the fuses one at a time and check to see if the test light would go out? And I don't think this was mentioned but, when you do the "test light/pull fuse" test, everything that draws power has to be off. That means, if you have the door open while you are pulling fuses, and the interior light is on, you are guaranteed to have a drain. Ditto for the under hood light. Remove the bulbs or close the door! If pulling fuses doesn't locate the drain, then it's time to start unplugging under-hood components one at a time.

 

Iv got the same problem and iv tried the fuse thing and the light stays bright. Iv pulled the reg and still the same then i tried the starter wire to make sure it wasnt drawing and it was still bright. Could the solinoid be causing this even with it starting and charging just fine? Or is there something else i can check? Well i pulled the orange wire off the solinoid and the light went out so the draw is somewhere in the truck any ideas since it wasnt in the fuse box?

 

Pull the alternator wires off and see if the light goes out. The alt wire is spliced into the orange wire down in the harness.

 

My alt wire isnt i took it dirct off the alt straight the the reg. But like i said i unpluged the reg and it still showed current. So its going past the reg. I can tell you this that before the swap to the 2.8. And i did pull the red wire off the alt and it did nothing.

 

If this was the big output wire that goes to the large lug on the back of the alt, then that was the one I was talking about.

If you follow the wire from the starter relay that you pulled off, it should go down in the harness, and then split off into different directions. You may have to cut some of the wiring, but you could see which one was causing the drain from there.

You said something about a 2.8. Are we working on a ranger or bronco II? What year?

 

Its a 84 ranger that had the 2.3 i changed it to a 2.8 but like i said it was draining battery in a day before the change over. When i bought the truck the guy wasnt home so i called him and he came home and it started right up then i drove it home let it sit for night and it was dead. So i charged it same thing. Then i tried a new battery and same thing. So it just all of a sudden happened or he was charging the battery each night cause he knew he was selling it.

 

I had started sorting out this issue with dead batteries a long time ago. But, the truck was in storage, I'm a lazy ***, and we moved cross country AGAIN.

SO short story long, I printed out this post and went to it with a test light. Unhooked everything I had put in her, the tach, the new radio, the cig lighter. The tester stayed on. Started popping fuses out while having a helper watch, all fuses came and went, the light stayed on. I jiggled every damn plug and wire, and the light stayed lit. Then I read the post closely again, and unplugged the voltage regulator. BUUUUYAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, I figure I'll just pic a new voltage reg today.

BUT I went to check the charging system, pulled the negative cable and the motor started to die. This means the alt isn't cranking out right??

Would this be from the volt reg being toast? Am I looking at a bad alt now too?

Lemme know your thoughts, I'd like to finally nip this in the bud.

Thanks,
Blair