Unique battery wiring screw up on 09

[richingalveston]

did you change the glow plug relay? you may have the wrong one. the correct glow plug relay has isolated ground. with the wrong one installed you are grounding the hot wire to the glow plug relay when the key is on. Will cause sparks and hot wires.

check to see you have the correct glow plug relay

 

[Csm Davis]

Okay not necessarily your problem but something that is not a good idea is those $2 battery terminal ends they will always be a problem you have a new motor spend a few dollars to get some proper wires or at least some good ends.

 

[dirtdiver]

Update. After voltmeter-ing everything, I started replacing battery cables. I started with the one from the 24v buss bar to the rear battery, using one I had on hand. Although the volt gauge in the cab showed yellow, the **** thing started right up as if nothing had ever been wrong. I see your point about the battery terminal clamps...I will replace all of those. So, at this time, it appears as if the shorting and sparking was from a cable that I thought as in good shape....and why not...it worked on the last one. As far as the GPR goes, it was one that I ordered from cucvelectric, and appears to be checking out fine so far. I will update further progress, probably tomorrow. I thank those of you who chipped in...cheers!

 

[dirtdiver]

Ok. After Action Review, AAR for short. She cranks up just fine for now after replacing that one cable. No more fireworks. I still need to track down why the voltmeter shows yellow on start up, as I think it should show green, then yellow when the gp's engage, then back to green. It does go to green after she starts, but this will be a process of checking the little things. For now, I'm just glad she turns over. It all happened when a friend of mine brought over a six pack unexpectedly and I got a fresh set of eyes on the problem. Sometimes that's what it takes, I guess. I also appreciate the feedback I have gotten. I don't post much, mainly because I absorb better than I can give. I will take all the advice received...ie: cables, terminals, etc. appreciate ya!

 

[o1951]

I consider those clamp on cable ends a temporary repair - a patch job. The copper continues to oxidize and there is trouble down the road. For a permanent repair, I carefully clean, flux and solder the connection.

 

[MarcusOReallyus]

I still need to track down why the voltmeter shows yellow on start up, as I think it should show green, then yellow when the gp's engage, then back to green. It does go to green after she starts, but this will be a process of checking the little things.

Might be the meter itself. Put a real voltmeter on it and compare your readings.

 

[dirtdiver]

Ok. When she is running, both batteries individually read 13+ volts on my voltmeter, and 25 when checking batteries in tandem. This tells me the alternators are charging them properly. With these readings, the volt gauge in the cab shows green, but just barely. I may replace the gauge and see what happens. In the meantime, I am happy she runs. Pulled her out of the garage and into the driveway for the first time in one year. Woot woot!

 

[o1951]

25 in tandem is low - should be sum of individual readings, so something is still buggered. (13+ and 13+ is 26-27)

Get exactly what the 13+ is. Volt gauge may be ok. I would hope it reads low end of green zone below 13.6 or so.
Proper charging voltage range is 13.8 to 14.2 depending on temperature. Voltage reg is temp compensated and does it's thing.

A small difference is a big deal with batteries.

 

[cucvrus]

Heres my 2 cents. Do both the Gen 1 and Gen 2 lights light up when you turn the key on while the engine is not running? I mean during the glow cycle?

 

[phil2968]

... I still need to track down why the voltmeter shows yellow on start up, as I think it should show green, then yellow when the gp's engage, then back to green. It does go to green after she starts...

My stays in the yellow until the glow plugs turn off. On a cold engine they put quite a load on the drivers side alt after start up if the resistors are bypassed. Run the truck and get the engine up to operating temp before checking your charging system. Or disconnect the GP solenoid once it is running.

 

[dirtdiver]

o1951, I will get more accurate readings of the batteries in tandem; I was just kinda ballparking it. I haven't checked since I put all new cables between the batteries and the buss bars on the firewall. I will probably get to that tomorrow or the next day..and I am not sure what you mean by "flux"...LOL. cucvrus, I will need to take a closer look at what exactly the gen lights do upon start up... marcusoreallyus, I may have been misunderstood. I have a decent voltmeter, but what I was referring to was the volt gauge on the dash being yellow upon turning the key. It then goes green, but not to the little tickmark on the gauge after starting up. I very much appreciate the input from all of you. cheers.

 

[dirtdiver]

Here is the final deal. It all appears to be the short pos cable to 24v bar on firewall that was the culprit. After replacing it and all the rest of the battery cables, she now seems to be running ok with no sparking. Its getting 14.6 volts on the rear battery, 14.4 volts on the front, with 29 volts in tandem while running. The gen 2 light is on until I start it, then it goes away. I am assuming the alternators are doing their jobs. The voltmeter on the dash still barely reads into the green after running and warming up, and I'm not sure why. That will be another thread, I guess. So this will be my final post for this one. In short, I never would have guessed that the little cable, which appeared to be just fine, would be the culprit. I appreciate the help, and the lesson is learned. In my defense, the cable in question worked just fine with the 1009 from which I took it. who knew? hahaha

 

[o1951]

Those are reasonable voltages on charge. Rear is a bit high,, but I would leave it alone. 2 batteries in series @ 29 volts shows that your wiring between them is doing it's job. Re Dash voltmeter - as a quick check, I would pull it and temporarily wire it across batteries with your voltmeter too as a comparison. If it still shows barely in the green, then wiring to dash voltmeter is probably ok. If it reads higher, then you know where to look. Start with ground. Sandpaper on contact surfaces and bit of anti corrode or dielectric grease helps make a permanent good connection. Don't forget the meter connections.

 

[dirtdiver]

o1951, thanks for the input. When I get a chance, I will try pulling the voltmeter off the dash and see what I get. Pulling it sounds like a PITA. lol. I will check all the grounds and post my final results.....again. Might be a few days. For now, she runs like a top, and it couldn't come at a better time, because she will probably be designated my daily driver for a while. Appreciate you all.

 

[dirtdiver]

Ok. Pulled the instrument panel today to clean the circuit board. It was in pretty good shape, but I cleaned it anyway. The bulb on Gen 1 was good. I cleaned the connectors on the voltmeter gauge. It was in good shape, but I did it anyway. The Gen1 light came on when I turned they key. Yay. The voltmeter now goes to just shy, I mean like one needle space away, from the tick mark on the gauge. I rechecked the voltage output from the alternators by singling out each battery. Rear battery showed 14.8, front battery showed 14.4, with both in tandem showing 29.2 volts. All in all, a good day. I believe all is well. I didn't do the "wire the voltmeter across the battery" thing, because I really don't know how. ha. I'm comfortable with this unless I am missing something. Many thanks for the input throughout all of this. Seriously, though....if I go any further on this subject, it would be considered cross threading or something. The whole subject changed. lol.

 

[rsh4364]

Good thread,got me thinking about batt. cable size,I have been thinking glowplugs seem like they are not getting enough juice for a long time.Took a close look at my cables today and my front pos. to rear neg. is only 4 gauge,not good! Im waiting on some fusible links and connectors then all my batt. cables will be 1/0 gauge and power and grounds 4-8 gauge.

 

[o1951]

. Yay. The voltmeter now goes to just shy, I mean like one needle space away, from the tick mark on the gauge. .

That means you did good. Probably some slight oxidation on VM and gen lite connections. If so inclined, you can probably bring VM up a tick by refreshing under dash and chassis grounds.

It don't take much - 1/10 volt makes a slight difference on voltmeter.

 

[dirtdiver]

I will do that...all this input has helped me a lot...thx