[DeTomaso] Electrical Gremlins still live!

[michael@michaelshortt.com]

Greetings all,

Today was the proverbial day from hell if measured by frustration level.

I discover that the Alt had been replaced in the past ( as it would
have been naturally ) and I should have known this because I have done
belts before and it never really occurred to me to examine the thing
as it worked fine ( note; know hat everything is before you need to
know ).  IT was now an internal fan unit with a built in voltage
regulator.
Given all the advice from here pinpointing that as a possible cause of
my non working gauges and constant battery drain, I opted to remove
the ALT and take it to Advance Auto Parts and have it tested,
sur'nuff, it was putting out a total of 4 volts, problem solved or so
I thought.

I bought a new unit ( pulley exchange required, so for the record, the
unit that fits is for a 1992 Ford E150 Econoline Van with a 302 ) with
95 amps, that was 149.95, the super  performance version with 200 amps
was not in stock and at 399.95 wasn't going to happen anyway.

I went home, installed the new ALT and drove back to the store and
ta-da. NOTHING!  Machine showed that I had no charge going on with a
brand new ALT with new Voltage Reg installed with a new, properly
tightened belt, etc.

Still no gauges, and a dying battery because it ain't getting charged back up.

I took the new rear GT$ taillights out, sanded away the paint where
they mount to the bodywork, so I'm fairly sure that if I had a short
or bad ground back there that it's gone.

I'm at my wit's end.

One suggestion was that our amp gauges are stupid and that it could be
the problem ( as opposed to a Voltmeter ).

all the fuses are fine and the Motor to chassis strap is fine.

What else is there between the ALT and the battery that could
interrupt the signal telling the ALt to get to work?

as stated before I have a MSD-6AL, a MSD Electronic Dist, MSD Tach
adapter, Accel 300+ wires,, MSD High Voltage coil, and the thing runs
great as long as the battery has been charged up before you go out and
obviously you can't use the headlights or it's gonna die fast.

Any ideas?

Michael in Savannah

BTW, I did a photo series on the ALT R and R and included the belts,
I'll post that as soon as I can to the bottom of the root cause.



-- 
Michael L. Shortt
Savannah, Georgia
www.michaelshortt.com
michael at michaelshortt.com


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