Hi I had to get your message from email link! I have clicked on remember me, everytime. Won't let me post or quote, etc. nor see newest posts,very frustrating.

Ok here goes, bit of a long story:

A little over aweek ago,I noticed that my turn signals wouldn't work after I came to a stop, but would work again after I pressed onthe gas pedal. A few days later, I realized that if I kept the heater fan off, the signals would continue to work, but they would be kind of slow. I paid more attention, and noticed thatwhen the heater fan was turned on, the needle on the gauge would drop from 3/4 down to 1/2 way on the guage. I have since noticed, that the fan is not blowing as hard, nor as hot, but there is heat coming from it, (just not enough for my liking!).

the charge gauge does not move when the headlights are turned on nor when the radio is on.

Last Tuesday, the truck didn't want to start, sounded like I had left the headlights on overnight, I turned the heater fan off, and she started. Since then, I have removed removed the negative cable from the battery every night. I have bought a light test, and a volt meter, but have no idea on how to use them.

So there you go in a nut shell, oh, last Sunday while driving home on new blacktop, it changed the way it sounded, as if I was driving on old pavement, almost like it's getting too much air????

1990, F250 351W, 5.8L gas, extended cab, longbox.
Replaced: Distributor cap, ignition coil, ignition module, spark plugs, tie rod, brakes, altenator (2yrs), fuel pump,water pump, radiator, 4 new EXPENSIVE studded snow tires,

s***, she's almost new, hahaha

 

i had problems switching pages.
test your battery to see if you have voltage. turn your fancy volt meter to 20 vdc. and put it on the neg/pos. and see what you get. then fire the rig up and do the same you can get alternator voltage. at the battery it should be between 13.5 and 14 vdc. if the voltage is below 12vdc alternator is going south.

 

Hey Northern gal (got a first name?) does your battery go dead too, or just seems like its hard to start?

That is a pretty weird electrical problem though. First thing I would do is check under teh dash and see if there is any signs of water that has gotten in there. I would also search the forums here and do some reading, there is TONS of wiring issues that can be read about in the 87-96 forums. (does sound like a short somewhere though)

Test light is easy to use, hook the clip to ground, then the other end to test if there is power somewhere. If there is power, it will light up.

Voltmeter is pretty easy too, it measures the volts of a circuit, so just figure out what you want to test and you can get some readings.

example, to test your battery, or how much your alternator is charging, set your voltmeter to dv, and your settings to the nearest setting above 15 volts, red to positive, black to negative. the reading will give you how many volts your battery has. Start up the truck and do the same thing, will tell you how much its charging.

Of course the best would be to read the manual or whatever, cause each meter works different, and there are analog and digital, and you do have to be careful to set the digital ones correctly.

On Edit, ya beat me Jack!

 

jack has it on the money i believe. sounds like the alternator is having a hard time keeping up... i thought so, but i'm just a washboy/pizza go-getter

 

I tested the battery, read 12.5, then I started the truck and rechecked the battery, it read just a bit above13.5. So now what?

Still can't acccess this site properly? I get email alerts, with a link and it lets me in, so basically using the back door, hahaha. Can't read other posts elsewhere though, but at least you can read mine, hurrah.

 

12.5 for the battery is good. IT doesnt sound like the alternator may be weak though.

My battery kept going dead on my 89, and I changed out the alternator, and it did fix the problem for a little bit. (I tested good when i had the truck running too)

You might need to test the battery at Canadian tire, or a place like that, that does them for free.

I dont think that a weak alternator would cause the symptoms you are describing though. Are you noticing your lights go really dim? Any other electrical devices that are "dimming" when you have the truck on and running?

 

Yahoo, I'm still here, & wasable to read the 3 posts from you guys - don't ask.

the name is Laurie, Ok so how do I test the alternator? Battery/truck is not hard to start if I remove the neg. cable from the post during the night. At least I'm not too dumb, hahaha. Seemed like it was being drained somehow, when it wasn't running.

If it's the alternator, wouldn't it have died by now? It's been about 3 weeks since this all first began.

the little test light thing I bought, has 2 clamps on it? Did I get the wrong type?

Oh forgot to mention, new battery this summer.




where's the pizza?

 

1990.... too many wires for me

 

nothing else is going dim. I removed the radio too, just in case it was that, but I don't think it is,as it's been there for 5yrs, but was being careful as it has a s*** load of lights and graphics on it. Canadian tire doesn't do ANYTHING for free up here, and if you need mechanical repairs in this town, you better be prepared to wait at least a week, winter time- 2 to3 weeks, and that's just to get it looked at!!!

 

Totally agree, it looks like a huge bowl of spaghetti noodles to me.

 

Just a thought, but some of the blower motor windings may be shorting out causing a large draw on the electrical system. you could unplug the blower motor to see if the problem improves and the battery stays charged overnight. with a amp meter you can check the draw on the battery and when the blower motor is unpluged see if the draw goes away.

 

Sould do the fuse pulling test for draw. remove negative post, get amp meter, pull a fuse, test, and repeat till you find if theres a draw!

I dont know if thats it though, since your truck starts fine after you turn off the heater switch...

I agree with what Marlon said for a test though, thats one simple way to rule that out.

 

have your battery load tested.. its not that bad laurie,king i'd love to work on your truck.. well were not "experts" by any stretch of the imagination. but its something.
do the same test but turn you acc. on 1 at a time and watch your readings starting with the headlights. while its running.

 

I sent a reply, using this same quote, did you guys get it. Seems the back door got slammed shut.

I'm not ignoring you all,just I keep logging in and then it tells me I'm not logged in. between this and the truck , and now the blackberry has just crapped out, so I am about ready to blow my own gasket.

 

I don't know you guys by name, are you talking about a "load" test on the battery?

for fuse pulling test, where am I putting the meter, on the battery? If I pull a fuse, what readings should I be looking for, as there shouldn't be any draw on the battery with the neg cable pulled off the post??? Or amI just way out to lunch? I hate electrical things.