electrical questions ideas? help?

[burchbosun]

ok my 89 7.3 engine in a 86 was put in by the guy before me it now wont start the guy has the original solenoid ( on fender wall) wired to the starter solenoid dunno y and the pos cable gets hot as hell the fender solenoid clicks but nothing i assume there is a bad starter or bad spot on it inside windings but my q is this its 20 degrees outside can i jump a cable from posi to starter direct to check starter or should it not even have solenoid 2 in there its a wiring mess and also i want to uprgrade the alternator will the one from an ambulance thats a 160amp fit? and also i got a qoute on a new 3g 140 for 229 and a 200 for 299 $ it has a charge discharge gauge in the dash that works will it fry from a high amp alternator? how is the stock charge disharge setup is it an 80 or 60 amp meter or what? i hope im not rambling to much the truck is a 5spd i also would love to know does the speedometer connect ok to the 5spd it was never hooked up after the 4spd was taken out or do i need a new cable or adapter?

[bcgeorge]

Just a thought here, I would remove the cable at the siloniod and clean the contacts, then do the same at both bateries and cable ends (+&-). In my experience this is where the problem is.

[Mr_Roboto]

It's supposed to have 2 starter solenoids. Sounds like your starter is shorted out inside, take the starter off and get it tested. There are 3 starter bolts, one of them is hidden on top.

You can get a stock 130 amp 3G alternator off of a Ford Taurus, it's a pretty easy retrofit. I can't imagine needing more than 130 amps unless you have extremely high electrical loads like an electric winch or numerous floodlights. I do semi-truck jumpstarts and don't have any more than regular 130 amp 3G's.

I have the 3G retrofit procedure posted on "another" diesel site, if you need it PM me with your email address and I'll send you the web address. TDS filters out competing site addresses both in posts and PM's.