No power!!

aasltmike

aasltmike

Active member
Re: No power!!

Don W. and sly dvl, I gotta hand it to you two. Ya'lls thinking out loud had me check the voltages ya'll were talking about. I do have a battery that has both top and side terminals and I got 12.26 volts at both terminal sets. I checked the voltage at the alternator stud and it was only reading 1.66 volts. I pulled the wire out and went to pull the flex loom off and it had a portion where it melted slick. I stripped the flex loom off and I found a spot on the wire insulation that's also slightly melted and what was more telling was a scorch mark under the insulation where the copper wire is cooked.

DSCF3242_zpsf1bfb61a.jpg


Kinda hard to see in the pic, but the discoloration and melted spot on the insulation are there. Too late to get into running this one down tonight, but it'll be the first thing I hit tomorrow afternoon to see if that was indeed it. Thanks again for the thinking out loud and I'll let ya'll know what I get tomorrow. :tup::tup:
 
berzerker

berzerker

wookie
Re: No power!!

just one suggestion .. check the ignition switch at the lower portion of the steering column . there known for the wiring connections to build resistance and burn up causing a very poor connection and causing no power to accessories and the cab . my .2 c . good luck and keep us updated .
 
aasltmike

aasltmike

Active member
Re: No power!!

berzerker said:
just one suggestion .. check the ignition switch at the lower portion of the steering column . there known for the wiring connections to build resistance and burn up causing a very poor connection and causing no power to accessories and the cab . my .2 c . good luck and keep us updated .
Click to expand...

Yep, I'd already thought of that and bought an ignition switch just in case. I'll have more this afternoon after I get off work and get a chance to dig into this.
 
aasltmike

aasltmike

Active member
Re: No power!!

OK, after a couple of hours of putting a new alternator-to-battery positive cable and putting a new ignition switch in, still no power at all!:rant::rant::rant: No cranking, no dome lights, no ignition buzzer, NOTHING!! I checked voltage at the back of the alternator stud and it reads .06 volts now. This one even has my dad stumped and he's been a mechanic for almost 60 years now. I'm afraid this one's gonna have to stew for a bit since we gotta pack and load up the wife's truck tomorrow and we push out for Missouri on Saturday. If anyone has any ideas, I'm all eyes and ears for a list of things I need to check once I get back from the holidays.
 
Don W.

Don W.

Stab it and steer it
Re: No power!!

Well you're gonna have to see why there is such low voltage at the alt. to start with. Originally the + cable was 2 part. Heavy down to the starter and about 10g over to the alt. But you say you've re-done the cabling. (A photo here for us might help.) Somewhere you've got a bad connection. Start with your new cable and check resistance. Then check how you've got that cable connected to the bat. Have you tried a different bat as suggested?

I can't imagine why an ign sw would have anything to do with this. No volts at the alt kills everything.

Bet you're gonna kick yourself when you find it.

Dang, this is one of those I'd really like to get my hands on.
 
aasltmike

aasltmike

Active member
Re: No power!!

Here's a pic of my set-up:

DSCF3243_zps4c43889c.jpg


The cable on the right on the positive side goes to the alternator stud. I checked resistance on it and I got 0.2 ohms. For reference, I checked the cable I pulled out and got the same resistance. I also checked a regular battery cable that you can get at the auto parts stores and it also checked at 0.2 ohms resistance. The cable on the left on the positive side goes down to the lug on the starter solenoid. Continuity checked on that one but haven't ohm'd it yet for resistance. The negative cable goes to the back of the passenger-side head. I haven't checked continuity on it or ohm'd it, but traced it with my hand and it is still connected. When I get back from my leave, I'll have to be thorough and check all cables again to see what I get. The cable is 2AWG cable that I got from Advance Auto, the terminals and lug ends are also Advance Auto. I had this set-up running in the truck since the end of August with no probs until now.
 
sly dvl

sly dvl

Ya, it's got a Turbo
Re: No power!!

How are you checking for voltage at the alt stud? Are you grounding the meter lead to the chassis or engine block? If so, a bad ground connection from the battery to the chassis will give you a 0 volt reading at the alt. stud.
Leave the black meter lead on the batt neg, and check the alt stud again. If you have a reading then the problem is almost definitely on the ground side of the battery connection,

That chassis ground lead from the batt. looks pretty minimal. Put your black meter lead on the chassis somewhere (not the engine) and the red lead on the NEG battery terminal. Leave a door open so your dome light (normally) is on. You should have a 0 volt reading. I'll bet you get a voltage reading...
 
aasltmike

aasltmike

Active member
Re: No power!!

And the winner is sly dvl!!!!:tup::tup:

Checked those voltages like you said. Was getting the low reading when grounding the multimeter to chassis getting the voltage from the alternator stud. Grounded it to negative post on battery and got 12.26 volts. Jiggled the ground cable and liked to jump outta my skin when the alarm went off!! It got up againt a clamp on the heater hoses going over the inner fender and grounded out there. Moved it around to get it away from anything metal and VROOOM!!! She fired right up. :woot:
 
sly dvl

sly dvl

Ya, it's got a Turbo
Re: No power!!

Nice! :tup: Now go spend some quality time with the family and have a Merry Xmas. ;)
 
Don W.

Don W.

Stab it and steer it
Re: No power!!

Nice call sly dvl. One of those weird things. Just thinking and trying to visualize I never would have thought to switch ground points. Put me there and it would have been automatic. AKA I'm better when I'm there. Merry Christmas to all following a good thread with a good outcome. So many we never hear back from.
 
Syclone#2960

Syclone#2960

What ever it takes!!
Re: No power!!

Im having the same issue on mine...real quick tip to trouble shoot this even faster.
Leave your key ign on while u wiggle battery cables at the battery post and listen for the fuel pump to prime. I discovered my battery (+) post is toast. It must of broke internally. Even though it has a full charge.
 
atkonkler

atkonkler

Is this your bush?
Re: No power!!

I had this happen once....battery literally shot the positive post out of the battery...wtf?!?! Grabbed the battery out of my Bonneville....boom back to boost launching
 
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