Battery being drained - need ideas - HELP

[88_Eddie]

also, i took off the alternator and removed the voltage regualtor....how do i know if it's bad? everything looked fine to me but i'm not sure what to look for.

^^^^^^^^NEVERMIND THIS QUESTION^^^^^^^
there is a little arrow on the back of the voltage reg. that says "test ground here" and points at one of the screws on the back. i put 2 and 2 together and figured that was probably the best spot to test the V.R.

so i tested the V.R. and this is what happened:
i have 2 harnesses that plug into the alternator, one goes to the V.R.
while the one that goes to the V.R. is plugged in, i am getting a reading of ZERO.(using the screw on the back of the V.R. as a ground)

if i unplug this same wire and test the wiring itself i am getting the same reading as i do when i test the battery posts.

am i to assume this means that the V.R. is bad?

sorry for the constant posts, but i think a mix of y'all giving me ideas and me typing all this shit up here kinda helps...........

 

[Bronco_Chuck]

okay well think of your multi meter like one big wire with a fuse in the middle if you touch one end to the pos post and the other end to the Neg post on the battery what happens? you blow your fuse. so as long as the multi meter is set to amps dont go checking for voltage. and only conect it in series with a circuit.

as for it still not starting it sounds like a bad battery, you could always load test it..... but thats kinda complicated.
as for your other question im not really sure what it is that you are talking about.

 

[88_Eddie]

GOOD NEWS...........finally

since i wasnt gettin a voltage reading on my voltage regulator on the back of the alternator, i took my alternator up to napa auto parts. the fella there hooked it up to a machine and couldnt get the machine to turn on. this makes sense because it doesnt always wanna turn over regardless of how charged the battery is. he said the bearing in it must be busted. (it's about 7 years old and has been sitting since FEB. and wasnt driven much before that)

so i have installed the new alternator and i am trickle charging the battery right now, should be done soon and hopefully it will fix the drain. as i said before, i've had this problem with my alternator before, i just thought it was something more complicated this time.

SO, hopefully this is the last time you will hear from me about this issue. thanks for all the input and ideas and look for a build thread coming soon.

88_Eddie

 

[Bronco_Chuck]

good luck man really hope it solves your problem.

 

[AllanD]

NO!

yes the alternator could have gone bad in that amount of time. But if it was the Voltage-regulator as AllanD said then it would not actualy be the a bad alternator, as the V-regulator is not inside the alternator its on the driver fender well. the other thing that it could be is one of the positive diodes in your rectifier bridge could have shorted. leaving a direct path to one of your field windings. best way to test it is hook up the multi-meter and disconect the V-reg, if the draw is still there disconect the wires from the alternator. if the draw is still there after disconecting the alternator start pulling fuses.

On an '86 or later ranger the V-reg is ON the alternator.

THINKING you know the answer is NOT the same thing as actually knowing.
If you don't know...

ok so incase you didnt know an alternator produces an AC current like what is in the walls through 3 field windings, the rectifier bridge is what changes that three fase AC current into DC current. it is built into the alternator and it isnt really acessable. the Voltige reg is the small black box on the inner driverside fender, it has a rectangular plugin. and also your multi meter has amps. its the lower left section inbetween 6 and 9 oclock on your dial. right next to the A with the ~ with a line above it. (and just so you know that ~ with the line above it is the symbol for DC or direct current. and the A stands for amps) also you will want your test leads as follows: black test lead in center conector or COM and the red lead in the 10A connector (far left) then set the dial to the amps, i would start at the 10 amp (or 2 clicks going clockwise from 6oclock) then connect the multi meter as shown earlyer and begin by disconecting the alternator.

the word you mis-spelled is "Phase"

^^^^^^^^NEVERMIND THIS QUESTION^^^^^^^
there is a little arrow on the back of the voltage reg. that says "test ground here" and points at one of the screws on the back. i put 2 and 2 together and figured that was probably the best spot to test the V.R.

so i tested the V.R. and this is what happened:
i have 2 harnesses that plug into the alternator, one goes to the V.R.
while the one that goes to the V.R. is plugged in, i am getting a reading of ZERO.(using the screw on the back of the V.R. as a ground)

if i unplug this same wire and test the wiring itself i am getting the same reading as i do when i test the battery posts.

am i to assume this means that the V.R. is bad?

sorry for the constant posts, but i think a mix of y'all giving me ideas and me typing all this shit up here kinda helps...........

what it says is "Ground here to test", that bypasses the Voltage regulator and causes the alternator to go "Full Field"

 

[Bronco_Chuck]

NO!




On an '86 or later ranger the V-reg is ON the alternator.

THINKING you know the answer is NOT the same thing as actually knowing.
If you don't know...






the word you mis-spelled is "Phase"



what it says is "Ground here to test", that bypasses the Voltage regulator and causes the alternator to go "Full Field"

my 86 Voltage regulator was not in the alternator....... and sorry for not being perfict here. not once did i say that i knew everything nor did i ever say i could spell worth a darn, i was simply trying to help him out..... so im sorry i pissed you off or whatever.

 

[88_Eddie]

well, the engine still didnt wanna turn over.....but it sounds better than it did. i went ahead and changed out the plugs and wires and got a new distributor cap....they were all old and nasty and needed to be changed anyways. hope it helps.

 

[Bronco_Chuck]

what is it doing? is it just making a clicking noise? if so your battery connections could be dirty, or your battery is bad.

 

[88_Eddie]

Conclusion

well guys, it was a bad alternator. i couldnt get it to turn over because i hadnt connected a small ground wire that hooks up to the NEG terminal on the battery.

i got it to crank, drove it around the neighborhood for a bit, pulled back into the garage and cut it off. i let it sit for a bit and then she cranked right back up again. i say that because before i changed out the alternator, you had to charge the battery completely to get it to crank, then once you turned it off, it would not crank again. i guess that was because the alternator was bad and it wasnt recharging the battery while i was driving. like i said, i've had this problem before.

i'll crank it tomorrow morning sometime just to be sure that it was indeed the alternator and that the drain is gone.



now its time for many

i'll be getting a lift and tires soon, need more $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
, so look for a build thread

thanks again for the ideas and input

 

[zenmaster F100]

well guys, it was a bad alternator. i couldnt get it to turn over because i hadnt connected a small ground wire that hooks up to the NEG terminal on the battery.

i got it to crank, drove it around the neighborhood for a bit, pulled back into the garage and cut it off. i let it sit for a bit and then she cranked right back up again. i say that because before i changed out the alternator, you had to charge the battery completely to get it to crank, then once you turned it off, it would not crank again. i guess that was because the alternator was bad and it wasnt recharging the battery while i was driving. like i said, i've had this problem before.

i'll crank it tomorrow morning sometime just to be sure that it was indeed the alternator and that the drain is gone.



now its time for many

i'll be getting a lift and tires soon, need more $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
, so look for a build thread

thanks again for the ideas and input

Hey all,
I'm having a similar struggle with an electrical problem on my '79' F100 Ranger with little success. When the brake pedal is engaged the side marker lights(parking lights) also light up with the brake light. When I depress the brake pedal several times, on some occassions, the marker lights go out and function as normal. I've checked/tested fuses, examined switches, wiggled wires, replaced bulbs, tested grounds...nothing is working.
Any suggestions on what to do next>
I have a multimeter but must say I'm on a steep learning curve when using it.
The posts in this thread have been very helpful with reducing the curve!

 

[88_Eddie]

do you mean the side marker lights on the front fenders? if thats the case, i'd look at both the wiring harnesses from each of the parking lights. make sure they are goin to the correct place and arent touching any other wires. also, check under the dash. since the parking lights eventually stop lighting up when you press the brake, maybe there are some wires that are touching up under there and you eventually move them out of the way but when you drive around the wires get bounced around and end up touching again....just a guess. when i was looking for my drain, i found a bunch of wires that were frayed and cracked.

the parking lights on my BII dont work at all for some reason and neither does the back right reverse light come to think of it, i think i need a new harness.

sorry i cant be of more assistance but i'm not that familiar with F100's and as you may have read in this thread, electrical work is not my cup of tea......good luck

 

[zenmaster F100]

Thanks for your suggestions. The side marker lights are on left and right sides on both front and back side fenders. It appears some wires may be touching when bounced together...but finding where this is taking place has proven to be next to impossible. I looked for signs of mice activity (that happened before) that may have created frayed wires but have'nt found anything. Re wiring with a new harness is an idea...but...at this point I'm determined to not let the 'short' beat me....yet.
I'll keep looking.
I appreciated your insights.

do you mean the side marker lights on the front fenders? if thats the case, i'd look at both the wiring harnesses from each of the parking lights. make sure they are goin to the correct place and arent touching any other wires. also, check under the dash. since the parking lights eventually stop lighting up when you press the brake, maybe there are some wires that are touching up under there and you eventually move them out of the way but when you drive around the wires get bounced around and end up touching again....just a guess. when i was looking for my drain, i found a bunch of wires that were frayed and cracked.

the parking lights on my BII dont work at all for some reason and neither does the back right reverse light come to think of it, i think i need a new harness.

sorry i cant be of more assistance but i'm not that familiar with F100's and as you may have read in this thread, electrical work is not my cup of tea......good luck

 

[88_Eddie]

The side marker lights are on left and right sides on both front and back side fenders.

i see, i'm not familiar with the f100 body, but i looked it up on google. i still think the wires must be touching, however, i dont see why pushing the brake pedal over and over would make it stop eventually. good luck

 

[Cheezno6]

well guys, it was a bad alternator. i couldnt get it to turn over because i hadnt connected a small ground wire that hooks up to the NEG terminal on the battery.

i got it to crank, drove it around the neighborhood for a bit, pulled back into the garage and cut it off. i let it sit for a bit and then she cranked right back up again. i say that because before i changed out the alternator, you had to charge the battery completely to get it to crank, then once you turned it off, it would not crank again. i guess that was because the alternator was bad and it wasnt recharging the battery while i was driving. like i said, i've had this problem before.

i'll crank it tomorrow morning sometime just to be sure that it was indeed the alternator and that the drain is gone.



now its time for many

i'll be getting a lift and tires soon, need more $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
, so look for a build thread

thanks again for the ideas and input

So the alt light wasn't on through all of this? I just replaced my alternator (internal VR) and now am getting current draw (test light very bright) but my alt light isn't on anymore. The tach, temp and fuel gauge are all dead Tach moves to neg when the key is turned on but won't move/read other than that. I posted those probs in another forum and got back the reply that that side of the cluster is bad. could that also cause current draw?

 

[88_Eddie]

well first off, i'm about 99% sure that i dont have an alt light and if i do, it didnt come on.

i dont know if you read alot of this thread, but electronics in automobiles is not my beer of choice. i know more than i did when i started the thread, i just tested the alternator on a whim because i couldnt find anything else to fix and my b2 had the same problem about 5 years back while i was in college. it definitely did fix the problem though, i've been driving it ever since and had no problems.

but from what you just said, i agree that the cluster could be bad. i replaced the tach side of the cluster in mine about 3 years back due to a faulty tach....the needle had completely broken and the fuel gauge was off. however, it never caused a problem other than not knowing my rpms or how much gas i had. i dont remember how much i payed for the cluster, my dad picked it up for me at a junkyard.

i did have a problem where there was a frayed wire somewhere in my headlight switch and it was causing a drain and the headlights didnt work.

i doubt i helped you here, but it's good to hear other peoples problems/fixes when you're troubleshooting. good luck