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#94755 02/22/2006 4:23 PM | Joined: Nov 2005 Posts: 16 Junior Member | | Junior Member Joined: Nov 2005 Posts: 16 | Have another problem besides the tail lights, I cant keep a charge in the new battery. Put the new one in and cranked her up, checked that still had no tail lights and faint rt blinker, went out this morning and totally dead truck. Battery totally drained again. WTF?
Patrick | | |
#94756 02/22/2006 8:05 PM | Joined: May 2003 Posts: 1,271 Shop Shark | | Shop Shark Joined: May 2003 Posts: 1,271 | Hey, Patrick I know you put a new alternator in, but it sure sounds like your alternator isn't working correctly. And it also does sound like a grounding problem as others have suggested. What kind of alternator did you install? If you're not going all-original with your truck and you want to get your electrical system operating at top efficiency, Click Here and see what I did on my truck -- notice the related links at the bottom of the page, too.
~~ Alan Horvath 1954 Chevy PickupSinging his praises in thePassing Lane | | |
#94757 02/23/2006 6:19 AM | Joined: Mar 2005 Posts: 1,029 Member | | Member Joined: Mar 2005 Posts: 1,029 | It sounds as though you are just throwing parts at your truck without doing any analysis and without using any diagnostic tools such as a VOM. That is a very expensive method. Disconnect the ground cable at the battery and measure the current with every thing turnd off; should be zero. If not, report back. | | |
#94758 02/25/2006 7:20 PM | Joined: Nov 2005 Posts: 16 Junior Member | | Junior Member Joined: Nov 2005 Posts: 16 | Just got the battery recharged and put a vom on it and it read 12.4v but was declining. So had to be altenator...right? Ended up draining the battery so have to take it back in along with alternator to test. Both are new though. SO is voltage reg. Still no tail lights or brake lights. Is the license plate light the ground for the harness? looks to be according to the wiring diagram.
Patrick | | |
#94759 02/25/2006 7:32 PM | Joined: Feb 2002 Posts: 12,029 Cruising in the Passing Lane | | Cruising in the Passing Lane Joined: Feb 2002 Posts: 12,029 | ground for the "harness"? things have their own grounds, the harness supplies power - the rear lights all get their ground from their mounting to the bed/frame - might need to add a ground wire from the bed to the frame, which should be the general ground for the truck
if your battery is running down just sitting there w/ nothing on, there's a short someplace, and it doesn't hafta be the alternator - disconnect the ground cable from the batt, put your meter between the neg post and the ground cable, and start disconnecting things until the drain disappears to narrow it down
Bill | | |
#94760 02/26/2006 3:32 AM | Joined: Nov 2005 Posts: 16 Junior Member | | Junior Member Joined: Nov 2005 Posts: 16 | Did put a test light on the battery cable and post and started to disconnect fuses to see if the light would go out, but it didnt. The light stayed on without a fuse in the fuse box or a key in the ignition. Now what? Also put a volt meter on the harness that runs down the frame and connects to the tail lights and there is no juice there. Could it be the turn signal switch?
Patrick | | |
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