battery not charging?

[roadking]

would the voltage regulater have anything to do with battery not charging, i pulled alternator and had checked(still good) all my battary cable are good(2 gauge new) battary new but keeps draining down like alternater now charging it? what does the voltage regulater actually due? thanks for any suggestions.

[71swb4x4]

Does it drain while you are driving or while it is sitting?

Shawn

[70c10]

Have you messed with the horn lately by chance?. Get the alt checked at a different place to make sure. Are you sure it's wired correctly?.

[roadking]

no problem with horn, i dont think its draining the battery while its not running, i do have hei so theres no way to tell if my alternater is working when truck is running by pulling battery cable, problem started after motor swap, we extended and reran alternater wires around fire wall. wires were soiderd and shrank wrapped very professionally done. i was hopeing to elemenat other possible problems before tearing my wiring harness apart. how does the voltage regulater function?

[Blue Beard]

Did you use grommets on the firewall?

[roadking]

not understanding the grommet question, to clearify alittle more. to keep wiring looking clean we rewrapped the wires in the rubber electrical type tape and ran wires in the exsisting channel above the firewall and came down next to valve covers to alternater. l6 to v8 swap with alternater on the passengerside now.

[Longhorn Man]

You can pull the bat cable even though you have hei, but this is not a very reliable test, and it can actually fry the diodes in your alt. (not likely, but possible)
If your alt tested good, then we'll take there word for it. They probably wanted to sell you a new one, so I highly doubt they would BS you into NOT buying a new unit.
Your battery is new.
Your cables are new (and assumed to be clean and tight on both ends of both cables)
About the only thing left is the Voltage regulater.
This piece does exactly as the name implys, it regulates the amount of power that goes into your system, including the battery. If gone unregulated, the alt would put out somewhere close to 30 volts,a nd would burn its self out in short order. After a few years (say...30 or so) the contacts inside are most likely rusted and/or corroded to the point of not being able to make the contacts needed, therefor, not letting the current flow through it. This leaves the whole truck to run off the battery alone and kill it since it is not being charged up.
Pretty much any parts house should have this unit on the shelf, and pretty cheap. I have done away with this set up personally, but I did buy one about 4 years ago and it was only about 12 bucks. Go buy one, bolt it in, clean up the ground on the ground wire, and fire up the truck. Turn on the headlights aimed at a wall or something else fairly close. (perferably at night) Turn off the engine with the lights on. If they seem to dim when the engien shuts off, then you know you are charging.

[roadking]

thanks, all replace the vr and go from there.

[MAC67]

the easiest way ive found to check if youre alt is charging or not , doesnt matter hei or points , with youre truck running look for the little metal circle on the back of the alt about the size of a quarter , ,,, with the truck running touch youre pocket knife or a screw driver to that circle , if it is magnetic then youre alt is charging .. also the easiest way i have found to find a short ,,,, or atleast its easy for me ,, easier with 2 people...disconnect the hot battery cable , then clip a test light on the hot post and touch the light to the disconnected cable , if it lights up brightly then you have a deffinate short somewhere , now if youre radio has a memory or something like that it will light very very dimmly almost hard to see , ok now if it does light up brightly hae someone stand by the battery and hold the testlight on the cable, then you need to start pulling fuses one at a time and then putting them back until the light goes out , once you pull a fuse that makes the light go out you have found youre short , i had a similiar problem with my truck , i did the test light trick and it was an aftermarket domelight that was contiuously pulling a large amount , it would drain the battery in a day and a half , hope this info is helpful to someone

[MAC67]

i also had a brand new pioneer cd player do the same thing , i sent it back and they gave me a new one , anyhting like that can be screwed up and cause a battery drain

[Blue Beard]

What I was referring to grommet....is a rubber o-ring that goes around the wiring (even if taped) where it goes throught the firewall. Helps to keep it from rubbing the firewall metal and cutting through

[Hooter]

personally I would switch to an internally regulated alternator, it's not that hard to do at all, get the adaptor plug from any parts store, and the terminals get connected in this manner: 1st to third second to fourth terminal on the plug on the regulator