93 ranger battery light on but charging fine

[wp23n]

started day before yesterday.. battery light came on but battery gauge
working as normal.. so yesterday i took out my volt meter
and checked the battery 12.8 volts started the truck and got 14.8 volts
at idle, revved the engine and it stayed between 14.7 and 14.8 volts which i within spec for a 93 ranger..

started doing more research and came across this

http://www.automotiveforums.com/t500784-discuss93_ranger_battery_light_question.html

while he has the voltage off for output at 14v ( i got the 14.8v # from a ford tech) he was spot on about the white/black wire..

so i disconnected the battery( make sure you disconnect the battery so you dont short your regulator out) and then pulled everything apart, found the best way was to pull the airbox lid and then disconnect the air feed tube from the bottom of the box and exhaust heat tube and swing it out of the way which gave a straight shot to the alternator wiring.

unplugged the main plug so i could get to the single plug and sure enough it was visibly corroded, then when i popped the plug retainer off to get at the actual connector inside i could see that only one strand of wire was holding it on and it was a beautiful green in color...

long story short i repaired it with a slide connector that cut in half until i can get to the junk yard and pick up the proper plug end for it..
started truck back up and sure enough no more battery light..

makes me wonder how many people have had their alternator and battery replaced due to this single corroded wire

 

[RonD]

Good info

I am sure many people replaced batteries and even alternators because of bad wires or connectors.
If shop doing this job didn't find the bad wire when replacing alternator.......a new dash panel would have been needed next , lol.

 

[wp23n]

Good info

I am sure many people replaced batteries and even alternators because of bad wires or connectors.
If shop doing this job didn't find the bad wire when replacing alternator.......a new dash panel would have been needed next , lol.

LOL yeah i have read multiple stories on the net of people changing everything including multiple alternators out but no mention of this wire..

and a follow up, went to the u-pull it and ended up grabbing 3 of these plug ends, checked about 12 of them and out of the 12 only the 3 i grabbed looked good the rest were just as corroded as my original so it must be a common problem..