Electrical Issues.. trying to troubleshoot

[Qui Gon-Jinn]

Truck is dead.. well.. won't start.. unless I push start it. Got it home from work.. 10 miles. Here is what It took.

 

 

Push start by a friend..

 

2 miles.. had to shut off all electrical to keep it running.. Drove home with no radio.. no lights.. nothing.. (Wife in the mustang behind me..) Was almost home and flipped on headlights and the truck died.

 

Battery showing 12V.. when I try to crank.. 4 or less.

 

It was sputtering when Lights where on. Could smell the unburned fuel. As soon as I shut down the headlights it ran ok.. almost the full 8 miles.

 

My first thought. Alternator.

 

Don't have anyone to bounce idea's off tonight but thought I would start here.

 

Thanks in advance.

[Pete M]

Alt or battery. Maybe both if the alt went bad. Same symptoms as when my alt suddenly went from a ~180 amp to a ~30 amp with an internal failure. Most car stores will check both for free. :thumbsup:

[Qui Gon-Jinn]

Thanks Pete.. Issue is.. I can't get there.. LOL

 

it's 12:30am.. only 3 in town open.. and can't drive if I try to use headlights.

 

thought is pull the battery.. go test that in the morning. if good.. alternator.

 

Guess I know what my weekend has in store for me.

 

Any tips on where and how hard it will be to pull and replace the alternator?

 

Price wise I am seeing it for about 90.00.

[BLHTAZ]

I would say that it is more likely the alternator, but as Pete said, it could be both depending on how long it has been struggling and running more off of the battery.

 

My 2002 Ram just shut off on me at a stop sign the other day. I got a jump start, but it would not stay running unless I kept the RPM's over 1500. Alternator was fine, but the battery was so dead that the truck would not run off of the alternator alone. I think the battery may have had a short internally. I have heard that these trucks will do the same thing with a dead battery...they will not run off of the alternator as a lot of vehicles will.

 

Have both tested to see what you need...hopefully not both. They are probably about the same price each though.

[jtdesigns]

I got my alt rebuild for half the price of the new one.. I'd go that route if I were you.. 40 bucks is way better then 90...

[Qui Gon-Jinn]

will look into it.. Was going to work on it this morning.. but am at the ER with the wife. Either Kidney Stones.. or Gallbladder.. TBD at this point.

 

I talked to my dad a bit.. and he seems to think that it's the alternator.. and thinks he has one at his house.. but.. it may be a few days before I get to that.

[chunks6067]

Any tips on where and how hard it will be to pull and replace the alternator?

 

.

 

when my alternator died i went all extravagant and bought a high amp one ..you know for upgrade purposes

but as far as replacing it its pretty easy once with the belt off and all . i want to say the biggest pain was having to remove the damn factory skid plate but other than that its a couple of bolts and wires. :thumbsup:

[mvusse]

Car batteries do not like being discharged. If your alternator went bad (which it seems like it did), the battery may have been killed by being drained down too far.

 

Either way, the best way to burn up a new alternator is to have it charge a completely (or nearly) drained battery. So get a battery charger if you don't have one and completely charge the battery. And batteries can't be tested unless fully charged anyway.

[Qui Gon-Jinn]

So Far..

 

Busted my hand open trying to get the alternator off.

 

Took off the fan.. the shroud.. the airbox.. and removed the battery

 

Replaced battery terminal ends (Needed to be done.. had the parts already.. just no time)

 

Got the new alternator.

 

Broke fan shroud in 5 pieces getting pissed off at the truck

 

Broke my toe when I kicked the damn thing.

 

Truck is sitting.. in pieces still.

 

I can't get the damn belt back on. we pulled the idler off to get it off.. but now.. it won't go back together. I have loosened what I thought was the tensioner under the PS pump.. bolts on the back of the ps pump.. front.. and it won't move.. stopped short of the hammer on it..

 

Going today to get a shroud.

 

So. HOW does the belt loosen and tighten? where is the magic bolt?

 

At this point.. my sanity is going fast.. I have pulled the alldata DVD's offline and checked.. but no info.. just "Losen.. pull.. fix.. ect" not what I needed. But.. good to have.

 

Anyway.. HOW DO YOU DO THE BELT??

 

if it helps.. 87.. 4.0l 4x4 with AC.

 

Got a ton of work to do today on computers.. so this will sit till later.. or sunday.

[Pete M]

The power steering pump slides on its bracket and serves as the tensioner. It's held in place by 2 or three bolts (at least on is on the backside so don't forget to look for it.). :thumbsup:

[mvusse]

The bolt the ps pump pivots on is on the front near the top, loosen this one. There are 2 bolts on the back that need to be loosened a little so they can slide in their slot, and the bolt on the threaded end of the tensioner bolt also needs to be loosened to allow it to slide in its slot. Almost impossible to do with the aux. electric fan and air filter housing in place; both have to be removed.

 

And yes, the person who designed that set up needs to be strung up by his scrotum. I just did all that to get the idler pulley back on after replacing the bearing in it.

[Qui Gon-Jinn]

Got up this morning.. with the intention of getting this done.

 

Got my Chilton's back from my buddy.. and found it.. the bolt is holding the tensioner solid. I got that loose.. got the nuts on the fan finger tight.. got the shroud in place.. and RAIN!!!

 

I have all this setup to finish.. I have it all figured out.. and.. the rain.. ughhh.. no covered spot to do this in today. But.. I have beat this thing.

[BLHTAZ]

But.. I have beat this thing.

:thumbsup: Sometimes you just have to walk away and sleep on it ;)