New Battery, hooked up to tester at Advanced auto, they said alternater bad. Took off alternater and had it bench tested, test showed alternator good?!

wiring on one of the headlights looks wrong. Excessive noise coming through radio. battery cable corrode excessively. Sometimes turn signal blink very slowly. Also looks as if someone did a midnight wiring job installing trailor lights hookup.

Could swapped connections on starter relay cause such a thing?
74 econline van, 302.

I'm at the end of my rope on this. Any help would be greatly appreaciated!
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I would first suspect the grounds. Alt case to block, block to frame and finally frame to battery. If the rest of the elec system works, I would suspect the frame to battery connections/wire.

 

Thanks! sounds like a good spot to start.

 

Battery cable corroded...that says it all to me. Fits in perfectly with what ReAX says as well. If the corrosion has gotten to the cable (turned copper green, etc) it's time to replace it. clean all the above-mentioned contacts well!

 

You did not state that the vehicle is not starting, but, I will assume it is not.

> Excessive noise coming through radio.

There is suppose to be a large Radio Interference Capacitor on older vehicles. Maybe yours is missing or bad.

As for the proper wiring technique, read my posts here, especially the first link which you might find useful.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/4...y+gauge+ground

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/2...y+gauge+ground

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/9...y+gauge+ground