Battery slow drain when running - help!

[bdag]

Hey guys. '86 2.4 here. I got a little electrical problem but that's nothing new . I had a PS fluid leak all over the engine bay and replaced the high pressure hose, then cleaned a lot of the gunk up. Replaced the gunked up alternator, put in a new battery. At rest the battery reads 12.2V but the truck won't crank over. *click click click*. If I jump it it reads about 13.4V and fires right up. Remove the jumper cables and the battery voltage slowly drops. After a couple of minutes it was down to 8V. I shut the truck off and watched the voltage slowly rise back up to about 12.2. New + and - battery cables as well.

At one point while it was still hooked to the cables I touched a screwdriver to both screws on the solenoid. First time it tried to start. Next time it just clicked. At one point it whirred but no attempt to start.

Could be grounding I suppose? Dunno, electrical is a bit of a mystery to me.

Thanks for any input.

Brian

[bdag]

Mechanic told me that Duralast alternators can be bad out of the box. Rather than continue to chase around and find a working one is there a better option? Dealer doesn't carry this alternator anymore.

[ProteanCarnage]

Unless your voltage reads 13 or higher with the engine running, it is not charging. I had troubles with mine at one point too, i replaced alt, batt, checked belts, and fuses. Turned out, there is a fusible link that melts when overvoltage occurs from alternator. This fuse is right off the positive terminal of the battery from the alternator. It protects the battery and whole system. I had antifreeze spill on my alternator, which killed my alternator. Before it died however, the alternator went into overdrive and started pumping too much into battery, which melted the fusible link. Picked up a new one at can tire for 5 bucks, took me two weeks to find the issue though. Replaced the entire charging system before i found it though.

[bdag]

I appreciate the insight. I hadn't had a chance to check voltage on the solenoid yet either.

Brian

[bdag]

Bingo, black fusible link was shot, all gunked up INSIDE the insulation. Searched through the archives, not quite sure what gauge wire to use. I was going to carefully pull the harnesses apart one and by one and replace all the wire in case they were all gunked. One black, two greens, and two orange. Is the gauge important? Neither the archives nor the manuals say anything about size. I gotta get this thing running again. Thanks for helping an electrical idiot.

Brian

[PEZi]

I actually had that same question about gauge when I was working on mine. Could never find an answer. Ended up bypassing the outdated system... took forever!

[bdag]

Just got done replacing the link with some 18g stranded copper lamp cord I had laying around. Seemed to match the thickness of the blown link. Hope that helps.

Didn't help me. Starter's still all *click* like there's not enough battery. Been on a solar trickle charger for a week. I'll test battery volts in the morning. I'm gonna jump it too and see if the battery voltage stays in the 12-13v range on it's own. Maybe time for a new starter.

Anybody got a link to a guide on how to overhaul the fusible links? Do you just bypass it and call it good?

Brian

[bdag]

Solenoid seems to be grounded and is getting a charge. Battery's at 12.2V. All fuses by the driver's door are good. Gotta be the starter itself?

Brian

[PEZi]

Personally... bypassing it solved so many issues for me. I wish I had more help for you, though, as when I did mine I completely ripped out the whole system and went 100% bare bones with it. It was out of commission for almost a month, but I didn't care as it was a race vehicle. I'm sure there is a way of doing just a partial bypass that wouldn't take quite as long, but those links tie in so many things that I can't be sure. Do you have a diagram to work with?

[bdag]

I haven't really NEEDED the truck lately so I've been slow to get her running again. My father in law loaned me an inductive tune up analyzer and I went through the troubleshooting tests. Battery was fine, failed on the solenoid test. Then I bypassed my battery entirely and tried to start off of another one. A little slow whirr but still no start. Starter could very well be original so I guess I'm off to replace it. My local Pick n Pull sells them for $20 and has a couple of 720's in the yard. Should I take a chance at the shiniest one I could find or just spend $50 for new? I'm leaning towards new.

But why in the world does a solenoid cost more than the whole doggone starter unit?

[flinterman2000]

Down here in the West Indies, its called rare speciality parts. New solenoid costs US$ 45 bucks and the whole starter 50.. A used one that is serviced before installation would be best and you can repair the original one to have a spare.