charging issue

[waterdude007]

Originally Posted by Cjhstang

hmm, mine actually isn't grounded by that post. mine is just grounded through its mounts to the engine block. wonder if this could have to do with it....

Do you still have the original cables? If so, they are not helping the situation.

Replace those 15 year old battery cables!

I just installed a rebuilt alternator and it is only grounded by the mounting bolts with no problems.

--Hugh

[Cjhstang]

no replaced all wires on the batteries as well as terminals

[Cjhstang]

what kicks the dummy battery light? Is it the same sensor as the oem volt meter? my batter light won't go off.
I charged the batteries on trickel cell for 3 days and it finally seems ok, i think i was just never driving far enough or letting it sit on the trickel cell long enough to really get it fully charged.
I just need to get this battery light off.

[Snotzalot]

Now that you have fully charged batteries, what voltage is the alt putting out?

[Cjhstang]

haha, NOW fired her up and have the exact opposite of what the above post has. The battery light was off and i had zero charge from the alternator again. made it to my destination which was about 15 miles away...10 miles into and the volt gauge kicks up, i'm now getting charge again...but the battery warning light comes back on now.
i'm so lost. what else is there to do? rewire it all with all new components and plugs!?

[Cjhstang]

Originally Posted by Snotzalot

Now that you have fully charged batteries, what voltage is the alt putting out?

sorry snotz didn't check the voltage at that moment, was in a hurry...and now after my last post i don't have full charge anymore. i have noticed that the dash voltmeter has jumped dangerously high at times tho... like past the l in normal. only for a split second tho.

[rednexx]

Curious to see what the end result is here. I'm in the same boat right now with new batts and alternator. It will charge fine, but it seems as if there is a key off draw from the alt charge wire to the starter selenoid and the charge light wouldn't even come on with the key in the on position with the engine off.
Not trying to hijack, but possibly the same gremlin that the OP has.

[DieselDually1993]

I'll admit that I didn't read all three pages of the thread but I was surfing the web and came across this at Yahoo Motors about a key off trickle charge that could drain your batteries. This sounded pretty general, but maybe this could be a piece of the puzzle. Maybe you have a frayed wire thats making a connection and drawing power.

"Current drain on the battery can be checked with an ammeter. Make sure the ignition is off, then disconnect one of the battery cables. Connect one ammeter lead to the battery and the other to the cable. The normal current drain on most vehicles should be about 25 milliamps or less. If the key-off drain exceeds 100 milliamps, there's an electrical problem that requires further diagnosis."

[rsr911]

Originally Posted by DieselDually1993

I'll admit that I didn't read all three pages of the thread but I was surfing the web and came across this at Yahoo Motors about a key off trickle charge that could drain your batteries. This sounded pretty general, but maybe this could be a piece of the puzzle. Maybe you have a frayed wire thats making a connection and drawing power.

"Current drain on the battery can be checked with an ammeter. Make sure the ignition is off, then disconnect one of the battery cables. Connect one ammeter lead to the battery and the other to the cable. The normal current drain on most vehicles should be about 25 milliamps or less. If the key-off drain exceeds 100 milliamps, there's an electrical problem that requires further diagnosis."

Yep that's how my buddy, a pro car audio/electronics installer, showed me how to test but on these vans you have to disconnect a cable from each battery otherwise the test won't work. It's best to do the positives on both batteries then put the ammeter between one positive terminal and the positive cable. On one of my cars we found I had wired the MSD ignition wrong and it was always on. An MSD 7AL3 draws a surprising amount of power BTW.

[Cjhstang]

well truck has been sitting for a week without being started. started fine today so its shouldn't be battery drain. i was on and off with power from the alternator tho in the 2 mins i had it running today.
...i do not have a ground wire on the regulator...should there be? could this cause these problems? (the regulator is mounted on my firewall infront of the driver) had to move it some time back.

[Cjhstang]

ok well i think i FINALLY found the parasite... had to do with the power lead going from the alt to the battery. not sure what was wrong w it... looked fine.

still can't figure out why my battery dummy light is on??

[94_turbo]

can rem for sure--but he batt light, has to do with, when the voltage from the batt--matches the alt--the light goes out--thats why it sometimes is dim. one side is less voltage--hence it thinks its ground--and on goes the light--

[Cjhstang]

so would it possibly not be getting a reading from the alt?

[boomvan]

wow.. at this point i think i would scrap it all and just go with a 3G..... I did it, happy as can ever be, truck is always 14.4 no matter what... 1992 Ford Taurus 3.8L engine will get you the 130 amp alternator that you want... the alternator housing will have to be rotated about 120 degrees however.. but not hard to do.. you will also need a 3G harness plug (new on ebay for $9, or junkyard one..)
this is one upgrade that truly is worth it.

[Cjhstang]

when the alternator dies that is the plan. problem ended up being that wire. its running great now. its just this stupid battery dummy light is always on. i'm about to just pop the light out of it so its off. FOR GOOD!