1995 F-150 Supercab 5.0 RWD E40D

The other night my truck stalled on an offramp. I killed the headlights, at 5am, and drove home running every stop sign and traffic light. I put it on a medium load battery charger for over 12 hours, but she was acting funny. Upon further inspection the positive lead from the alternator was melted and held on by a tiny piece of metal. It broke with just a tug.

I pulled the alternator out and found that the whole boot was fried along with the plastic around the terminal, which fell apart like ash. I replaced the wire and everything runs fine now. I will post pics of the alternator later.

Now my doors do not unlock electronically, but they will lock. They do niether with the remote locking. My speedometer has no reading, which is not much of a surprise because my VSS has been acting up, but I am hoping I knocked a wire loose while fishing the battery cover out from on top of the tranny. Also the OD OFF light on my gear selector keeps blinking.

Any ideas? Help is greatly appreciated!

 

Has anyone seen an alternator do this? Should I contact Powermaster and Summit?

 

What amp alternator? Did you upgrade your power wire and fuse it?

 

It's a 130 amp Powermaster. I chose 130amp because I was told that 150 would require upgraded wiring. Until yesterday the alternator was using the OEM wiring. I'm thinking of upgrading to an 8 or 6 guage lead.

Powermaster wants me to ship the alternator back to them for inspection. I am positive they will blame it on me to get out of replacing the part, but it still works just fine with the new wiring. Should I just leave it in there or risk having to buy a new one if I send it back to Powermaster?

 

I ran 0 gauge with my 130 amp alternator and my 200 amp.

I would at least run 4 gauge with a 150 amp fuse.

 

Sweet! I can swap out the wiring and install a fuse tomorrow. I still need to figure out the speedometer, non locking doors, and blinking OD OFF light. Could I have fried some things when this happened?

 

The main thing that still has me confused is why the OFF light is blinking on my transmission shifter. Is this because the speedometer is not working?

 

Yes, that's just it - the PCM needs the speedometer signal to determine when to shift the E4OD, and if it don't see it then it makes the light blink tell you there's an issue somewhere and that you should hook up a code scanner to investigate.

 

Nice! Hopefully tomorrow I will have the time to replace the RABSII sensor and upgrade the wiring for the alternator.

Now why do my guage lights turn on when I hit the door lock button? The doors do not lock or unlock electrically now. I hoping it's just a fuse.

 

Something may have melted together...

 

That's my worst fear. I will find out tomorrow.

Thanks for all the great input everyone!

 

According to the Haynes Manual I have the blk/org wire from the alternator connected to a fusible link that is connected to the positive on the battery. In real life I have a 4 guage wire running from the post on the alternator to the top post on a round device, mounted next to the battery on the inner fender, that is connected to the positive side of the battery

Does this sound right?

Can I connect directly to the positive side of the battery?

I couldn't find a 150amp fuse. Where are good places to find one? In ATL preferably.

 

The big 4 gauge power wire needs a fuse. You can run it to the battery or the starter solenoid(round thing) dont matter which one. Autozone has 150 amp circuit breakers.

My old setup



My current setup

 

That looks great! Was that first fuse waterproof? I went to O'Reilies, Radio Shack, and Pop-Boys. I will call autozone tomorrow.

 

I found this, and the place is not far away.
Fry's Electronics - 150 Amp Fuse Holders

I believe the $14.99 one will work, but any feedback would be appreciated.