55.2-59 Battery draining

[dsraven]

Yes, and that was why I asked sorta the same questions. What alternator and what sort of ignition switch scenario.
Again, a pic says a thousand words.
Disconnect the alternator completely and look for any other draws with key off. Actually, with alt disconnected try what LG says and also disconnect your ignition switch plug in or, if dash mounted old fashioned key switch, pull the power wire off that and see if your draw goes away.
Are you running any relays? Have you checked them to ensure they turn off with key off? Do you have a fuse panel and if so have you checked the fuses to see if they are all non powered with the ignition off?

[Phungki]

Originally Posted by dsraven

Yes, and that was why I asked sorta the same questions. What alternator and what sort of ignition switch scenario.
Again, a pic says a thousand words.
Disconnect the alternator completely and look for any other draws with key off. Actually, with alt disconnected try what LG says and also disconnect your ignition switch plug in or, if dash mounted old fashioned key switch, pull the power wire off that and see if your draw goes away.
Are you running any relays? Have you checked them to ensure they turn off with key off? Do you have a fuse panel and if so have you checked the fuses to see if they are all non powered with the ignition off?

I don’t think I have any relays. There is a fuse panel. Its a painless wiring kit. Oem style ignition from LMC.
I don’t know how to check to see if the fuses are powered down with the key off. I’ll need to look into that. I believe there is a wire that goes between the battery and the fuse box directly. Wouldn’t that mean there would be some power to the fuse box all the time? A small amount at least

[leegreen]

>draws 4v when the plugs containing the 2 small wires is removed but the wire going between the alternator and battery is still connected.

This sounds like alternator problem. does it go to zero when all the wires are disconnected from alternator?
Yes -> leave alternator fully disconnected and use some other piece of wire to bridge from battery to the main terminal on alternator, if you still get 4v I think the problem causing the low voltage leak is inside alternator, if the problem goes away there is a short in that main cable to ground.
No -> there is another leak somewhere with high resistance, unplug more stuff until you see the voltage go to zero - start with ignition switch

The larger leak when either red or white wire is connected:
the white exciter wire problem is either the ignition switch or you do need to add a diode to stop back feed of power from alternator to ignition. Does wiring kit instructions say anything about diodes? White wire basically turns the alternator on with ingition.

The red wire, where does the other end go to? Red wire should be live only when ignition is on, its purpose is to let the alternator see the voltage of the system from somewhere away from the battery to adjust for any voltage drop due to the loads. Usually goes to somewhere near fuse box. without it, the alternator may overcharge, if it connects too close to the battery and there is voltage drop in the system some parts of the truck may be getting too few volts.

Fuse box will always have some power: horn lights and brakes at least will always have power. other fuses will only be hot when the ignition is on.

a test light like this is my goto for finding out what has voltage and what does not. get them anywhere for a few bucks


Also very handy is a few wires with jumper connectors on each ends so you can hook stuff up temporarily to see if it works. I made up a pair of truck length jumper wires from some old speaker wire, it has been very useful for testing on several car and boat projects we have going on.

ps: I edited the yes/no paragraph a couple hours after the original post as what I wrote earlier did not look right after a cup of coffee.

[dsraven]

LG is on the same diagnosing thought process as me on this. It's why I said to totally disconnect the alternator and see if the problem goes away. New alternators can be faulty too, maybe a bad part or maybe dropped somewhere along the supply chain. Who knows.
A test light is a must have and are only a few bucks. Some have an audible alarm as well as a light. Try to get one that has a decent clamp on the end so it grips well and will stay put. Test wires, or jumper wires can be made up cheap as well or you can buy a cheap set too. Try to find some with good alligator clips on the ends with color coded flexible insulators over the clips as sometimes you need to test a circuit that is right next to another circuit or ground. Also try for flexible wire as regular car wire can be kinda stiff sometimes and will pull the clip off.
If you need to check power from a connector with small connectors and the test light light is kinda big to fit I use a small pin with a little circle bent into one end and then flattened to form a T. You can get them cheap from an office supply or a craft store or online. They are called t pins. Used for cork boards, fabric etc.

[dsraven]

t pins
https://www.thefibrenook.com/products/t-pins
alternator charge plug
https://www.wiringdepot.com/store/c/...s-Sockets.aspx
circuit tester
https://www.harborfreight.com/612v-c...ead-63603.html
test leads
https://www.harborfreight.com/18-inc...ads-66717.html
https://www.harborfreight.com/36-inc...ads-66712.html
clips only to make your own leads
https://www.harborfreight.com/28-pie...set-67589.html
not saying any of these items are any good, just some pics to show what to look for.
to test the fuse panel for what circuits are hot with key off simply connect the test light clip to a good ground, test it on a circuit that is hot so you know the ground is good, then touch the pointed tip to the fuse and see if it lights up the tester. without knowing what type of fuses you have I would assume you have the newer style push in plastic fuses, like an ATO or ATC fuse. these have 2 little tabs that protrude a little through the plastic on the outboard side of the fuse, you can see them when the fuse is installed. these are extensions of the blades that actually plug into the circuit. you can touch these with your tester to see if the fuse is powered or not. if you have power on one side but not the other then the fuse is getting power but it is also blown, thats why it's only powered on one side. this makes it easy to test for power without pulling the fuse out for each circuit. if you have the old fashioned glass fuses simply touch the one end of the barrel of the fuse where the metal part is. its good to test both ends of any fuse just to ensure it isn't blown.
do you have a fuse or breaker on the power wire that feeds the fuse panel? something close to the battery maybe? otherwise that run of wire is vulnerable to a short. sometimes one of these fuses will look like this link, called a mega fuse
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/a...BoC6AUQAvD_BwE

[Phungki]

Originally Posted by dsraven

t pins
https://www.thefibrenook.com/products/t-pins
alternator charge plug
https://www.wiringdepot.com/store/c/...s-Sockets.aspx
circuit tester
https://www.harborfreight.com/612v-c...ead-63603.html
test leads
https://www.harborfreight.com/18-inc...ads-66717.html
https://www.harborfreight.com/36-inc...ads-66712.html
clips only to make your own leads
https://www.harborfreight.com/28-pie...set-67589.html
not saying any of these items are any good, just some pics to show what to look for.
to test the fuse panel for what circuits are hot with key off simply connect the test light clip to a good ground, test it on a circuit that is hot so you know the ground is good, then touch the pointed tip to the fuse and see if it lights up the tester. without knowing what type of fuses you have I would assume you have the newer style push in plastic fuses, like an ATO or ATC fuse. these have 2 little tabs that protrude a little through the plastic on the outboard side of the fuse, you can see them when the fuse is installed. these are extensions of the blades that actually plug into the circuit. you can touch these with your tester to see if the fuse is powered or not. if you have power on one side but not the other then the fuse is getting power but it is also blown, thats why it's only powered on one side. this makes it easy to test for power without pulling the fuse out for each circuit. if you have the old fashioned glass fuses simply touch the one end of the barrel of the fuse where the metal part is. its good to test both ends of any fuse just to ensure it isn't blown.
do you have a fuse or breaker on the power wire that feeds the fuse panel? something close to the battery maybe? otherwise that run of wire is vulnerable to a short. sometimes one of these fuses will look like this link, called a mega fuse
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/a...BoC6AUQAvD_BwE

I do not have that fuse/breaker hooked up yet. It did come with my kit tho and will get put on when I know I’m done routing wires and relocating the battery.

[Phungki]

Originally Posted by dsraven

LG is on the same diagnosing thought process as me on this. It's why I said to totally disconnect the alternator and see if the problem goes away. New alternators can be faulty too, maybe a bad part or maybe dropped somewhere along the supply chain. Who knows.
A test light is a must have and are only a few bucks. Some have an audible alarm as well as a light. Try to get one that has a decent clamp on the end so it grips well and will stay put. Test wires, or jumper wires can be made up cheap as well or you can buy a cheap set too. Try to find some with good alligator clips on the ends with color coded flexible insulators over the clips as sometimes you need to test a circuit that is right next to another circuit or ground. Also try for flexible wire as regular car wire can be kinda stiff sometimes and will pull the clip off.
If you need to check power from a connector with small connectors and the test light light is kinda big to fit I use a small pin with a little circle bent into one end and then flattened to form a T. You can get them cheap from an office supply or a craft store or online. They are called t pins. Used for cork boards, fabric etc.

Yes I get a parasitic draw of .07 when all 3 wires are removed.

I need to dig into the ignition switch again when I get back out there.
I found the diode in my wiring kit, pretty sure I need to put that in. Might not solve the problem but I’m going to do that before taking the alternator back and having it tested.

Yes I’ve bought brand new/refurbished parts before and had them not work or cause a fuse to blow. Jeep TJ wiper motor comes to mind. Tried twice then just bought a used one on ebay.

I actually already have “T” pins. As soon as I can wrap my head around how you want me to use them I’ll dig them out 😁

Thank you all for the help

[Phungki]

I put in the diode. Nothing changed. I looked over the ignition switch. Everything seems to where it’s supposed to be. I pulled every wire one at a time. I would get little movements on the multimeter but was still a 13v draw. Pulled all the fuse one at a time. Same results as the ignition switch. I guess now I’ll take the alternator in and have it checked. I’ll grab a test light while I’m there

[leegreen]

Confirm you can make it go to zero - pull the main battery + connection ?

With the ignition switch unplugged you still got full voltage on the 2 alternator wires?

Your fuse panel probably has a relay for horn and flasher for hazard - they will always have power, did you try pulling them?

what painless kit # is it?

[dsraven]

Originally Posted by Phungki

I put in the diode. Nothing changed. I looked over the ignition switch. Everything seems to where it’s supposed to be. I pulled every wire one at a time. I would get little movements on the multimeter but was still a 13v draw. Pulled all the fuse one at a time. Same results as the ignition switch. I guess now I’ll take the alternator in and have it checked. I’ll grab a test light while I’m there

is the diode labelled as to how it is wired in? they only let power through one way so if backwards.....
when you pulled every wire one at a time did you leave them disconnected and move to the next wire?
the alt can have one wire directly wired to the positive charge connection and shouldn't back feed. the other wire should only be powered with key in the run position. thats why some guys wire that to the ignition coil wire (if they don't have a ballast resistor) because the coil only gets power with the key in run (or start)

[Phungki]

Originally Posted by leegreen

>draws 4v when the plugs containing the 2 small wires is removed but the wire going between the alternator and battery is still connected.

This sounds like alternator problem. does it go to zero when all the wires are disconnected from alternator?
Yes -> leave alternator fully disconnected and use some other piece of wire to bridge from battery to the main terminal on alternator, if you still get 4v I think the problem causing the low voltage leak is inside alternator, if the problem goes away there is a short in that main cable to ground.
No -> there is another leak somewhere with high resistance, unplug more stuff until you see the voltage go to zero - start with ignition switch

The larger leak when either red or white wire is connected:
the white exciter wire problem is either the ignition switch or you do need to add a diode to stop back feed of power from alternator to ignition. Does wiring kit instructions say anything about diodes? White wire basically turns the alternator on with ingition.

The red wire, where does the other end go to? Red wire should be live only when ignition is on, its purpose is to let the alternator see the voltage of the system from somewhere away from the battery to adjust for any voltage drop due to the loads. Usually goes to somewhere near fuse box. without it, the alternator may overcharge, if it connects too close to the battery and there is voltage drop in the system some parts of the truck may be getting too few volts.

Fuse box will always have some power: horn lights and brakes at least will always have power. other fuses will only be hot when the ignition is on.

a test light like this is my goto for finding out what has voltage and what does not. get them anywhere for a few bucks
Attachment 2275420

Also very handy is a few wires with jumper connectors on each ends so you can hook stuff up temporarily to see if it works. I made up a pair of truck length jumper wires from some old speaker wire, it has been very useful for testing on several car and boat projects we have going on.

ps: I edited the yes/no paragraph a couple hours after the original post as what I wrote earlier did not look right after a cup of coffee.

When all 3 wires on the alternator are removed I have a .07v draw. I do need one of those lights for sure.