1993 E150 Alternator not charging

Just Bought a, 1993 E150 5.0L V8 - For $300 :biggrin:

Alternator not charging -
I had Advance auto parts test it from the Battery.
they said there is nothing comming from the Alternator and I should be getting a Little Charge from there, even if it was bad...

they said check the Alt connection & Fuse's


Could this be a Fuse ?
under the dash ?
under the Hood ?
Also my Dash gauges don't work:: Gas / Amp's / Oil / Temp / -

Could this be connected to the same Problem ?

I think the problem is related look around the dash and in the relay center under the hood. You can find the fuses.
http://www.alldata.com/ sells a years subscription for appx. $29.95 they have good electrical manuals. The show ground locations for the dash lights.

ok here is what i have found, the Alternator is charging, but it's not wired up to the Battery..

this was a (convirsion / camping) van, the guy i got it from has took out all the stuff Like TV, Microwave & all. and left al kinds of wires tapped off.



I have two Batterys under the hood. a standerd size on the right and one half that size on the left.. there are three large wires running from the left to the right as if they were hooked to the main battery at one time...

Wire 1 looks as if its comming from behind the Alternator and is putting off about 28 volts.

Wire 2 is comming from behind the Alternator also and is putting off the same as my battery/ so if my main battery has a full charge off 12 volts, thats what this wire reads, if my main battery has a charge of 10 Volts
this wire is reading the same thing.

Wire 3 is comming from the small Battery on the left side and reads nothing because it is disconnected from the left side battery..

my question now is why is wire 2 reading 28 volts ? - theres no way I would send a 28 volt charge to my (main/right) side Battery :eek: .

I would ask the man you purchased it from to explain what he was doing.
Some trucks have a 24 volt system so the batteries are hooked in series.
Maybe the alternator is for a 24 volt system.
Otherwise purchase an electrical diagram and rewire.

I have a 1989 E-350 with 7.5 Liter motorhome, so there will be some differences. The battery on the passengers side is referred to the chassis battery, it powers what you normally expect on the truck ie starter, exterior lights, fan etc. The other battery on the drivers side is the coach battery and powers the items inside the interior, ie light. TV, etc that were installed. It is normally kept isolated by a relay that is turned on when the ignition is turned on, and opens when the key is turned off. This allows the coach battery to charge, yet isolates it when stopped, so you don't run your chassis battery down with stuff inside.As far as the alternator, it should be connected to the starter solenoid on the firewall, probablty through a splice somewhere. Check under the dash as the previous owner may have butchered the harness in his haste to remove things. As far as the 28V, 2 things come to mind; one Ford did have a terminal for some applictaions that used higher voltage, but I think it was for a choke heater, which you don't have, and may have been wild frequency AC, not DC. the other is that you are reading an open circuit voltage, ie the alternator senses voltage low, goes full output, but is not connected and has nowhere to go. Try running a tempory jumper wire (using thick wire) from the alternator output stud directly to the battery side of the starter solenoid, and quickly measure the voltage. Better to have 2 of you to do this to shut off if voltage out of whack
Jeff

hey Jeff ,Try running a tempory jumper wire (using thick wire) from the alternator output stud directly to the battery side of the starter solenoid, and quickly measure the voltage. Better to have 2 of you to do this to shut off if voltage out of whack.

alternator output stud - I just can get half my hand back there to find it was the wire that is putting out 28 volts/ can I just use this wire 2 to do this test ? wire 2 is thick wire about half the size of Battery wire!

starter solenoid is this the solenoid on my firewall ?

when I do this, is there a chance of me burning up anything such as my BrainBox ?

I would just take this to a repair shop, but Im an Disable Vet on a Pinsion. so if I can get this solved here, it would probley save me a months pay!!! if not more..

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hey rhandwor, purchase an electrical diagram ...

I dont know where to get this electrical diagram from, the local auto parts store only has the repair manules for a basic 93 Ford E 150... with the van having all this extra stuff on it, where would i get a Book for this type of repair ? .

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Thanks for your replys all!!!

Disconnect the negative post from the battery and check for continuity from the output post of the alternator to the positive post of the battery, I am suspecting the wiring is out.Possibly Ford might use a fusible link in the alternator output, so if the circuit checks open, look closly at the wiring harness for a burned looking wire.
Good luck
Jeff

http://www.alldata.com/ They sell a one years subscription for appx. $29.95 they have good diagrams. Print it off so you can read it next to the truck.

I took Wire 1 going to the Alternator putting off 28 volts , Wire 2 going back behind the Alternator and looping back to my battery, Wire 3 going to the small Battery on the left side - and tied them all together. cranked the van and tested the volts at my Battery... the meter was reading was 14.89.. so I took the van back to advance and got then to check it back out..

Advance Auto Parts: System Tester Results

Battery Test = Good [voltage 12.43v] - [722 CCA] - [temp 69f]

Starter test = cranking normal [voltage: 10.67v] - [amps: 229.0a] - [Time: 1.07s]

Charging System Test = no problems. no load: [14.26v] - [26.9a] - loaded: [14.24v] - [25.2a]

Drain Test: [20.73a] [suspect] :headshake

Thank you all For your Help !!!