please help

[booger1]

on my 93 pickup I am having problems.  it has  22re.  when my battery is fully charged and drive it around for a little while the radio will die and then the tach will stop working and it will drain the power out of it.  it is not the alternator, because I just had mine rebuilt yesterday and put it back on today.  i just put some hid conversion headlights in it.  could that be draining all the power out?  also, when I go to start it back up, all it does is the starter starts clicking,  when I have the battery charged up the starter works perfectly.  also I have a 320 watt amp that is blown, could that be causing it?  someone said that my starter could be the problem, but it works perfectly when the battery is charged.    any help would be appreciated.

  nick

[Duffil]

make sure your alt is working...put a voltmeter on the battery when its running..should read at least like 13.8...if not then your alty no chargey!  did you disconnect the battery when you changed the alt, cuz that can cause it to either kill the alt when you hook it up, or it won't charge.  did you hook up the lights properly?

[brainlessfool]

how long do it take to go from starts fine to click click click? day? hour? min? 

if it's fast maybe a bad batt.

[booger1]

I started it up, let it idle for about 5 min, drove it 2 miles to the gas station, bought a root    , started it up,    it 100 feet to the car wash to make it look  , opened root  , drank root  , washed truck,    2 miles back home and it started acting up about 1/2 mile from home. 

[brainlessfool]

DANG IT! just trying to give some help and BAM! a sick totrle bit my    for -56 points! 

OK, that WAY fast!  frist if the alt. is working it should keep up with even a farly large drane. so check the alt. you may try charging the batt and let it run around the block a few times to show off the    with the alt unhooked from the truck totlay unhooked. you can leave the belt on butt no wires at all. a good charged batt should be good for a few hours of driving in the day ez. with no thumping tunes going that is! if with the alt off it hangs in for a bit , that's where you need to look again. if it acts up fast again, well the alt still anit dong much for ya so still check it butt you'll have more than that to deal with. mite start with the batt. next after the alt.

[BUBBA]

Have the battery load tested.Take it to about any parts store and they will check it for you for free.If the battery isn't holding a charge the alt. will not be able to keep up with it.Also what did you use to charge it.If it the battery wasn't fully charged it could have blown the alt again.Also make sure the belt is tight,if it's loose the pulley will slip and the alt won't charge either.

[*FFC*]

If your alternator was doin its job correctly, then your battery shouldn't be gettin drained so quickly.  You should be able to disconnect your battery when your vehicle is running and have no probs. If your battery is draining just from running the vehicle and whatever else you run on it, then your alternator is  

[germ]

The other thougt...

How old is the battery. If you have a regular lead battery, some flakes from the lead plates settle on the bottom, and will short out the plates, making it so that the battery won't hold a charge. Your alt could be pushing 200 volts, and the battery woundn't care, 'cause it's shorting out.

do as Rocktoy suggested, and have it tested.

Erik

[booger1]

not the battery, I just tried a new one that I had and I didn't wait for it to drain, but the check engine light is still on.

[Duffil]

If your alternator was doin its job correctly, then your battery shouldn't be gettin drained so quickly. You should be able to disconnect your battery when your vehicle is running and have no probs. If your battery is draining just from running the vehicle and whatever else you run on it, then your alternator is

Just so you guys know, on newer vehicles; ie anything with a computer, you should NEVER do this...the shock to the system can blow the computer..hell, even jumpstarting can do it! 

sorry for the Jack.

[BUBBA]

Have you checked the voltage at the battery with the engine running.If it is not putting out atleast 13 volts,the alt. is not working.Have you tried checking the fuses.Did you mean the charge light is still on,because the check engine light shouldn't be on just because the alt is'nt working.

[booger1]

no, it is the check engine light.   I started it up and disconnected the battery, and the truck died.

[Shamb]

maybe something shorting out?

probably got a direct short somewere and its killing everything. That'll also drain your battery and make your electronics do weird stuff..

[79coyotefrg]

sounds like when you hooked alt up it got the feild wires crossed and after shorting the regulator out it now works in reverse , actually sucking juice from the battery,

get a new alt, and a new battery


by the way you need at least 100amp alt

[miks85yota]

yeah, if it dies when u unhook the batt, it sounds like junk alt to me

[booger1]

thanks for all the help.  got it fixed.  turns out that it was a bad battery.  the good battery I only used before I got the alt rebuilt.  I didn't have an extra top post battery, so I put a side post battery in.  the way i have it, I can use a top or a side post battery.

[Willy Mammoth]

You can do a draw test  by taking off one battery cable and putting a test light between the cable and the post. With everything off and the doors closed the light should not light up. If it does you have a drain on the battery. Start by disconnecting the battery wire from the alt then start pulling fuses till the light goes out. Even just a dim lit light will drain your battery overnight.

And never disconnect the battery while it is running like Duffil said you could blow your computer.

Good luck

[germ]

You can do a draw test  by taking off one battery cable and putting a test light between the cable and the post. With everything off and the doors closed the light should not light up. If it does you have a drain on the battery. Start by disconnecting the battery wire from the alt then start pulling fuses till the light goes out. Even just a dim lit light will drain your battery overnight

Damn, that's a great idea!!! Wish I'd thought of that. How incredibly simple but effecient.

Erik

[Duffil]

You can do a draw test by taking off one battery cable and putting a test light between the cable and the post. With everything off and the doors closed the light should not light up. If it does you have a drain on the battery. Start by disconnecting the battery wire from the alt then start pulling fuses till the light goes out. Even just a dim lit light will drain your battery overnight.

Good luck

damn good idea Mr.W!

[BUBBA]

You can do a draw test  by taking off one battery cable and putting a test light between the cable and the post. With everything off and the doors closed the light should not light up. If it does you have a drain on the battery. Start by disconnecting the battery wire from the alt then start pulling fuses till the light goes out. Even just a dim lit light will drain your battery overnight.

And never disconnect the battery while it is running like Duffil said you could blow your computer.

Good luck

I thought everybody knew that 

[germ]

Prolly could have figured it out, but never thought about it. Great idea. I'll add it to my repetoir of cheap tricks.

Erik

[BUBBA]

Well it works most of the time.Sometimes the draw isn't enough to light the bulb but you can use a voltmeter to check this also.Some draw is normal,especially if you have a clock.