What would a ground fault in an alternator do?

[alwaysFlOoReD]

I’m curious. Not trying to give you a hard time. But may be able to clear something up for you. Were you pulling “relays”? Or fuses? There is a distinct difference and using the right term can make it easier for us all to communicate.

So a fuse is a device used to prevent too much current from flowing in a circuit. It only has 2 terminals and when too much current flows in the circuit, a small element inside is melts. We often say it “blows”. The fuse is then useless and must be replaced with one of the same current rating.

A relay is basically a switch that is operated by a magnetic coil. Most automotive relays usually have 4 or 5 terminals. 2 terminals are for the “control voltage” that energizes the magnetic coil to operate the switch contacts. The other terminals are where you connect the circuit that is being controlled.

To add to this, there are circuit breakers. They act like a fuse but can be reset, usually by themselves. They also have 2 legs (terminals).

 

[Burnsy]

I’m curious. Not trying to give you a hard time. But may be able to clear something up for you. Were you pulling “relays”? Or fuses? There is a distinct difference and using the right term can make it easier for us all to communicate.

So a fuse is a device used to prevent too much current from flowing in a circuit. It only has 2 terminals and when too much current flows in the circuit, a small element inside is melts. We often say it “blows”. The fuse is then useless and must be replaced with one of the same current rating.

A relay is basically a switch that is operated by a magnetic coil. Most automotive relays usually have 4 or 5 terminals. 2 terminals are for the “control voltage” that energizes the magnetic coil to operate the switch contacts. The other terminals are where you connect the circuit that is being controlled.

I know the difference....ive been naming them correctly....and I'm not saying that smugly, ...engine fuse box has different types of fuses(square tower ones 50...down to minis10-30 and relays, the I/P fuse panel is the one on the extreme left side of dash, have to open the driver door to access, that's mini fuses 7.5-35 ........ relay box is behind dash above gas pedal, has relays in it, square brown block relays 5 pins -3 one way 2 another way.....i just don't understand how elec WORKS ....I know what things ARE.....i fix my central ac, new contactors, replace capacitors, motors, replace/connect new well pumps etc...im pretty handy i just don't get electric, i don't want to get shocked/killed and i don't have enough free time to learn it so i just avoid the detailed stuff......if i can shut off a breaker and just work i can do all the work, if i can obviously see or know whats wrong.....where i get hung up is troubleshooting elec....but they've got it figured out now, needs a new GEM, it's been ordered.....gonna be put in monday...i appreciate your willingness to help thank you very much

 

[Curious Hound]

I know the difference....ive been naming them correctly....and I'm not saying that smugly, ...engine fuse box has different types of fuses(square tower ones 50...down to minis10-30 and relays, the I/P fuse panel is the one on the extreme left side of dash, have to open the driver door to access, that's mini fuses 7.5-35 ........ relay box is behind dash above gas pedal, has relays in it, square brown block relays 5 pins -3 one way 2 another way.....i just don't understand how elec WORKS ....I know what things ARE.....i fix my central ac, new contactors, replace capacitors, motors, replace/connect new well pumps etc...im pretty handy i just don't get electric, i don't want to get shocked/killed and i don't have enough free time to learn it so i just avoid the detailed stuff......if i can shut off a breaker and just work i can do all the work, if i can obviously see or know whats wrong.....where i get hung up is troubleshooting elec....but they've got it figured out now, needs a new GEM, it's been ordered.....gonna be put in monday...i appreciate your willingness to help thank you very much

Cool. It just seemed odd that you were pulling relays to troubleshoot the current draw issue. Normally that is narrowed down by pulling fuses. But the GEM module does complicate things because so many circuits run through it and Ford doesn't tell us what's going on inside it.

 

[Burnsy]

Cool. It just seemed odd that you were pulling relays to troubleshoot the current draw issue. Normally that is narrowed down by pulling fuses. But the GEM module does complicate things because so many circuits run through it and Ford doesn't tell us what's going on inside it.

I got beyond checking the fuses. We got more specific. We first started by checking on the engine fuse box,found a 50 amp fuse causing the draw.....found out that THAT 50 is for the entire I/P fuse panel,which is the INSIDE cab fuse panel, it has 35 mini fuses in it, so started pulling the fuses one at a time waiting for the drain to stop, ..... found fuse 26 to be causing the drain on 50a, now need to trace it FURTHER to see what's running off of

FUSE 26..........fuse 26 controls glove box light, GEM, seatbelts, and three or four relays, .......so i put fuse26 back in, 50amp is in , drain is now occurring....i delete everything from fuse 26 circuit one at a time until i find the source of the drain. I start with the relays since that what everyone says to do once you've got it narrowed down to where i have it.......the second relay I pulled stopped the drain..............theoretically there are three ways now I could stop the drain overnight.....unplug the relay every night, pull out mini fuse #26 every night, or remove the 50amp fuse from under the hood every night....

 

[Burnsy]

The problem was the path from the GEM to the battery saver relay(battery saver relay is on fuse #26) got shorted out inside the GEM, so a new relay would not fix the issue ,,needed a new GEM, the old/same relays were put back in and work normal