Both batteries are good but no power across both, HELP

[Dabba]

SEE POST 13 WITH UPDATE, STILL NEED HELP, FIXED BATT CABLE


Well, i think i shorted it somehow when my batteries shifted. Oops. I blew two fusible links by my drivers side firewall which i just replaced. Saw my battery was smoking a bit too, got them both to autozone and they both tested fine.

Now i am without a voltmeter for now, so im trying to test the basics here. I grabbed my jumper cables and attached them to the first battery. Touch them and i get sparks. Connect to second battery and do the same with the same results. Connect them across both batterys, touch them with no sparks, nada. I have no power to the truck at all, no lights, nothing. So i think i found my problem, but what is it and how do i fix it? or am i just stupid? Thanks

 

[crusty]

Well, that doesn't strike me as a very good way to trouble-shoot the system. However, if you have no voltage from the negative terminal of the forward battery to the positive terminal of the rear battery, then they must not be connected to each other. Check the cable and ends for breaks.

 

[Dabba]

I have, the cable looks intact, i thought of that already, because i have no other idea what it could be. Could the rear battery still be damaged despite testing okay? i mean i saw smoke with by the rear battery with some of this soder like material on top of the battery. But she tested good at autozone. and i get sparks from when i connect to both terminals. I just dont get how im not getting power when the wire from the front to rear battery is intact

 

[Dabba]

Okay, FULL STORY. After running around with the truck all day without a problem i bring it home and turn her off. When i go to start her again, all i get is a rapid succession of clicks. i leave the ignition in "on" When i pop the hood i see the batteries have shifted and fell off my makeshift tiedowns and i start seeing the batteries smoke as well as the area where everything joins in on the driverside firewall. I go take out the key and grab the extinguisher. As i go to start pulling the batteries out, the horn comes on and stays on for like 30 seconds. Im frantically trying to get the batteries off and then the horn goes of by itself. I get the batteries pulled and i see two 12ga fusible links gone.

So i get up to autozone and they dont have 12ga fusible links, just 14 and 16. So i grab some 12ga wire with butt connectors and such and rig up my own and place everything back the way it was. Get the batteries in, no go. no power, no lights no nothing.

Now in my desperation to troubleshoot quickly, i do the hic thing and use the jumper cables as i mentioned above. I also inpected the cable linking to the two batteries because that was my first guess as well. My last attempt before it was completly dark was to assume the rear battery was indeed dead (it did have a clicking sound on it after the accident and i saw some soder like material on it, so i thought i blew it up, but it tested fine at around 12v at autozone, so i stuck with it) and i basically again used the jumper cables from my car battery to the rear battery on the truck. Again, no lights, no nothing.

Its dark out now and im left clueless. Im gonna have to try to dig up a proper voltmeter but i have no idea where to begin here.. Im desperate so any help is appreicated.

 

[319]

I'd start with a new VOM and the TM with the wiring diagrams, and trace all of your electrical connections starting at the batteries. Also check your starter, may have fried that or the solenoid. Good luck!

 

[Dabba]

VOM? and i was thinking about the starter but then why dont i have power to my accesesories?

 

[Dabba]

i mean if i cant get the jumper cables to spark when i have em running across both batteries i highly suspect the wire between the two batteries. It looks intact with no marks, i mean is it possible the wire is compromised without looking like it? I also tried to run the jumpers from the neg term on the rear battery to the pos on the front with no results. I think im going to get a cheap voltmeter tommorow but i think im going to find my issue is that wire. I just dont know how i fried it without any visible sign. Any other ideas?

 

[Dabba]

and the solution....

So, im outside with the voltmeter i finally found and i got two very odd results, the oppposite of what i expected. When i crossed both batteries, i got 0, should have been getting 24v. When i put the voltmeter on the neg of the rear battery and poss of the front battery i had 24v, which should have been 0... So, my stepdad says i should test the resistance to see if the wires bad. i got outside and im looking at the clamp to see if i can isolate the big wire by itself since the smaller secondary wire is there, and then i see it. This explained the sodder like substance i saw on the battery..

 

[corelokt]

Time for new cables. Make sure both batteries are connected to each other real well. I like the Hum Vee terminals sold on ebaay, Then cables can be bought or made with just lug ends on them. If you ever lack for a volt meter again, use a 12v bulb to test with. The brightness of the bulb gives a slight clue to voltage, and no shorting across a circuit. A door buzzer is even better, as it lets you test one area ou of sight even when your at the far other end.

 

[gt1009]

I knew it. Mine has been doing that a lot lately. I just bought the heavy duty cable ends and they have been fine now. Just make sure they don't short out to the battery tray. I had a fire that way.

 

[Dabba]

Well, i replaced the busted cable end, put it on and still no go. No start, no lights, no nothing, still dead as a doornail. The battery system is working now. 24v across both. Im not good with electrical and i replaced the fusible links i saw blow. I have a voltmeter now.

My question is, what can blow on the truck to cause complete power failure? I have no power to anything. Where should i check first, and how should i check it? Im guessing theres not much that can make everything not work at once so.. Just need some help finding them, thanks

 

[Dabba]

Okay well, i think im getting closer to the problem...

I go out tonight to test the ground off the front battery and it checked out. I figure i may as well test the connection from the battery to the firewall connection on the drivers side (dist block? i already replaced the fusible link there by using a 12g wire and wire butts). I was only getting 6 volts to the connection on the firewall, So i pull the plastic on the butt connection back and touch the main wire (not the new 12ga i put in) and read 12v, so im guessing my electrical work was bad. As im doing this i hear a "click" and realize the glow plugs came on. (left the ignition in "on") So i place the meter back on the firewall junction and its now 12v. Well since it now works for the momment i decide to try to crank it over. I turn the key and i get a rapid succesion of clicks (same thing i got before this issue happend) and same pretty big sparks from the batteries. I quickly turn the key off and go out and check out what happend. It looks like the positive terminal on the front battery and the positive termninal on the rear battery melted. Thank god i kept the terminals on loose because the rear battery positive popped off after sparking for a second or two, or else i probably woulda blown the links again.

I assume i have a short somewhere, a pretty bad short. Any idea on where i should check first? Should i also assume its somewhere in the starting system being it only happend while i was cranking? Thanks for the help thus far.

 

[Dabba]

Andddd im even closer to the problem. I got all my accesories working, but she just would click alot and melt the terminals when i went to crank it. So i disconnected the wire to the starter, went to start and just a click from the relay. I put the wire back on the edge of the bolt its mounted to, went to start and got the clicks with burn marks on the bolt and eyehole of the starter wire. Guess im taking the starter down and getting it tested. If it needs a rebuild im making the mechanic pay for it. I bet its a 12v..

 

[FMJ]

Hey, did you post awhile back that you had the starter replaced?

 

[Dabba]

Hey, did you post awhile back that you had the starter replaced?

Yeah, i went out today and basically removed the starter cable from the bracket, and tried to start her and i got the click under the dash and thats it, no short no nothing. I do have my accesory power now though (my wiring was poor, fixed that) So, i put the starter cable back on the end of the bolt on the bracket, go to start and get the short, with some nice burn marks on the nut and eyehole of the starter wire. So i figured its gotta be the starter or wire. I traced the wire with no marks found. So, i just took the starter off (what a pain that was) and im gonna get it tested monday at a shop. I tried getting it tested at autozone but they only had a 12v tester so all we got was a click. The mechanic had the starter rebuilt a week ago (dosnt look touched) and its probably dead already. Im making him pay for this.

 

[FMJ]

Make sure it's the same starter. . . He may have swapped it with a 12V model. How long did it take for him to have it "rebuilt" ?

 

[crusty]

This sounds like the insulating washer on the end of the armature is missing/destroyed allowing the commutator to short out on the end plate of the starter.

 

[Dabba]

The wha is missing? ill check the tm for what that is/where its suppose to be. This is the first time i had the starter down, but i looked at it before, looks the same, says 24v on the side. Only took him a day or 2 to have it rebuilt by his "starter guy". Im worried he just didnt touch it and clean it out after it got muddy or they rebuilt it with 12v parts in the 24v shell...

 

[crusty]

There is a washer inside the starter that keeps the commutator from shorting against the end cap. when the washer is not in place the armature draws a huge current and produces little torque. If the brush end of the starter has burned paint near the bearing, that would be a strong sign of this condition. In any case, a tear down of the starter seems to be required here.

 

[Dabba]

Is it hard to take it appart, dont wanna mess with it if the shops gonna give me issues and i cant deal with it myself..