please help want start

[Mrs72shadetree]

we got the 69 a couple weeks ago never had a problem until we installed the gauge cluster it had dummy lights and we swapped to gauges we followed the link on gmcpauls website.well the battery went dead twice so i put shadetrees battery in it yesterday and everything was fine.you can pull the cable while its running and it and it still runs.with everything turned off you can put cable on with no arcing the battery is completley dead this morning WHAT DID WE DO WRONG PLEASE HELP I WANT TO DRIVE MY TRUCK i havent got to drive it hardley any at all.
PLEASE HELP thanks alot

[Randy70C-10]

Sounds like you have a hot wire grounding somewhere. Pull the positive battery cable off the battery, and run a dummy light between the battery terminal and the cable. If the light is on, you have a ground. Start pulling fuses until the light goes out. When it goes out, you've found the circuit that the ground is on.

[BLACK AND BLUE 67-72]

Try using a test light on the battery, they will not always arc when everything is turned off! Then if it is lit up start pulling fuses until it goes off. Also is your horn hooked up to where it works?? If not that could be a problem if it was grounding out like it was being pressed, mine did this and it took me a while to find the problem was that my stupid Grant wheel's horn setup was allowing it to make contact like the horn was being pressed, but I did not have the horn hooked up on the outside so I did not realize this was my problem until after my friend was attaching the negative cable to the new battery and I was sitting in the truck and heard the relay click.

[Longhorn Man]

Did you do anything else while the inst panel was out...like a stereo or something?

[WRMZ71]

MrsShadetree, when it did start did all the gauges and lights in the dash work like they were supposed to? I got one of them idiot light dashes but i got a gauge dash sitting on my floor that i wanted to put in, but i thought i would have to change the harness. I've seen the link on GMCpauls and was wondering if it was that hard. Theres gotta be more to it than just moving a couple of tangs in a harness.

[Mrs72shadetree]

thanks everybody i think we found it done the test light deal and it come back to the gauges that shadetree tryied to cheat on where you run 1 wire from cluster plug to the terminal box at battery and then another wire from the plug to alternator.he run both wires to the terminal block.he tried the light test and it come on he took that fuse out you have to run and light went out.i sure hope this fixes it.and while he was jumping it off he flooded it and it back fired through carb and caught on fire but he got it out with no damage.I THINK I NEED A NEW MECHANIC AND MAYBE A NEW HUSBAND TO LOL

THANKS EVERYBODY FOR YOUR HELP

[Mrs72shadetree]

Originally posted by WRMZ71
MrsShadetree, when it did start did all the gauges and lights in the dash work like they were supposed to? I got one of them idiot light dashes but i got a gauge dash sitting on my floor that i wanted to put in, but i thought i would have to change the harness. I've seen the link on GMCpauls and was wondering if it was that hard. Theres gotta be more to it than just moving a couple of tangs in a harness.

IT REALLY IS SIMPLE just follow the wiring digram and then you have to run 2 wires both with a 4-amp fuse
1 wire from the #1 on plug to the red 12g wire on back of alternator

1 wire from the #12 on plug to the terminal box near battery

just take your time it was real cold and getting dark and 72shadetree just got in a hurry

[krue]

Not enough time to do it right, plenty of time to do it over, eh?

[gr8scott51]

Sounds like a government worker (like me!). LOL scott