not the alternator ?

[dtinman]

I had a high pitched whine in my 95 king cab, and a good battery that was being drained every few days. I thought a bad alternator would be the reason for both. My mechanic got two, to make sure neither was bad, and neither fixed the problem. He is saying the cluster wiring is bad...he also just put in my fourth or fifth ignition switch a couple weeks ago. They have never lasted very long. The odomoter quit years ago. Other possible solutions ? ? ?

 

[Curious Hound]

May be several different things. To start, get the battery charged up good and disconnect it. About an hour after disconnecting it, measure it's voltage. Then leave it disconnected over night and check the voltage again the next day. It should be the same +/- 1 or 2 tenths of a volt. If that's true, the battery is good, assuming the voltage is around 12.6volts, depending on it's age.

Next would be to test for parasitic drain. For that test, you will connect your meter in series between the negative battery terminal and the negative cable clamp. Meter configured for reading amps. Meter placed where you can read it with hood and doors closed on the truck. I need to check my notes. But I think we're looking for a reading of around 30milliamps or 0.030amps. Anything significantly higher than that is a problem. Then you remove fuses, one at a time until the eading is acceptable. The last fuse removed, the one that gets rid of the excessive current, is the circuit that has a problem. Then we just have to figure out why that circuit is bad and fix it.

 

[dtinman]

He figured it out, pulled the instrument cluster, and there were some torn wires on the back. The local dealer says no parts more than 20 y ears old, but apparently the wire tape stuff can be soldered to fix. This might also fix my odometer. The whine is still a mystery, have to wait till it's running well enough to get it good and warmed up, see if it's still there. Thanks for all the suggestions !

 

[Terrys87]

Power steering pumps can whine quite a bit. Do you have it low on fluid or air in the system? I jack the front end of my trucks and cycle from lock to lock on the steering wheel. Basically, bleeding the steering fluid. Only reason I jack the front end up is to make it easier and take the strain off of steering components.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

Yeah, power steering pumps in these and the OBS full size trucks were notorious for whining even when not low on fluid.