Changed the alternator and now she won’t start

[dwest731]

I’ll try cleaning them again both posts and clamps hopefully that may help, sure won’t hurt. I believe that ground strap is still there but I’ll check this afternoon.

Those terminals. The strap holding cable.

I have them.
I have to clean them regularly by removing strap and cable. Clean and install..

Depending on maker of them
I have seen some painted completely over lead and some not painted ,Than back side of strap rust ,

It should be clean lead to make good

There is also a ground strap ,braided wire
It was on main ground at motor mount ,going from mount to chassis on drivers side a d is visible, is that still there?

This car was a turbo car before and the guy blew the motor and had no money to fix it. He sold it to another member who put a new motor, blower, and trans in it to bring it back close to factory. The tuner said his work was solid so I’m guessing it was who built it as a turbo car that did the relocation of the battery.

 

[kazman]

Those battery cable clamps are known to harbor corrosion inside the cable. Disassemble completely, cut back to good cable and re-assemble with a product designed to combat corrosion. As mentioned prior, crimped and soldered terminations are best.

 

[dwest731]

The battery cables will be my starting point now, looks like I need to get an ohm meter for further diagnostics

 

[JaCobro]

Did you try to bypass the clutch pedal switch? If you did it correctly, and it didn't work then most likely you are not getting voltage to the switch. Next would be to check for voltage at the fuse box. But with the battery being relocated, and you having some issues before, than it would be worth checking all the battery connections and wiring like the other guys are suggesting first.

 

[dwest731]

I did try that, followed the video exactly other than using a 5amp fuse bc I didn’t have an extra 10 on hand. It didn’t change anything for the situation

 

[Bullitt1448]

I appreciate the help fellas, I truly do! Sadly I don’t have a welder so I will have to get someone to do that part for me. I’m going to jump into it when I get off work today.

I enjoy wrenching too, thankfully! Very few times I have someone do something I can do myself.

I will keep you all posted, and thanks again!

Glad to hear you do your own wrenching, it’s what the hobby is all about. If you don’t have a welder drill a hole and fish a 3/8 bolt through use washers and double nut the bolt with the cable end. Be sure you buff the area to bare metal. Stainless Steel hardware would be good, plain steel is the best second choice. Plated bolts and nuts are not the hot ticket in this application. A cheapie volt/ohm meter will go a long way in helping your diagnostics. Many times I have seen things that look perfect but put a meter in it an no continuity.

 

[gimmie11s]

The chances of some random part failing during a repair vs human error are incredibly low.

My first guess would be you have a poor connection at the battery terminal or however you plumbed the cables.

Does it go from the battery to the lug at the fuse block where it meets the alt cable, and then you run a cable to the starter?

Or is there a direct cable from the bat to the starter?

If you didn’t disconnect the battery, did you take the hot alt cable off the fuse block or you just had a hot cable hanging there?


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Agree

I may have missed it, have you tried replacing the battery?

Something similar happened to my Tahoe -- I troubleshot the issue for 2 days, tracing wires, measuring resistance, replacing relays etc etc etc

It ended up being a bad battery.

 

[dwest731]

I did try another battery, I also hooked this one to a charger before doing that and it had plenty of charge.

Going to get a tester today and start that process. Fingers crossed

 

[MG0h3]

Buy a multi meter at the parts store on the way home.

It’s 20 bucks.


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[MG0h3]

Regarding the cables, is there another cable leading from the body mount ground (give that cable a tug, it’ll come right out) somewhere else? Looks like it goes through the trunk with the pos cable.

FYI you don’t need that big of a body mount ground but it’s not hurting you. Just needs to be crimped


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[MG0h3]

The actual cable connections at the posts are probably fine for now.

Those arent the best but that looks like they were just done with how shiny the copper is.

Best test here is a voltage drop test.

This is testing the difference, or drop, across a connection or circuit under load.

To test your battery post connections for example, you would place one lead on the battery post, and one lead on the terminal/clamp.

Meter will likely read zero because there is no difference.

Attempt to crank and read meter. Still 0.0 or maybe .001 or something. Fine. If it reads let’s say 1.2v, that’s how much voltage you are losing across that spot.

You can do this with the entire circuit, like that crappy ground body mount.




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[dwest731]

Gotcha, going to pick one up and start tracing this evening. I’ll start with the battery and work my way from there

 

[hotcobra03]

Looking at pictures again.

I don't see a power ground to engine block line.

Just to body. If it's just this that ground strap up front is the only engine ground,,

Something just isn't right,,
Hard on here for us to see

To me I would have a main power ground from battery to engine block..

If there isn't jumper cables can be used to test.
Battery to motor under car ,

 

[dwest731]

I did see something that looked to be attached to the frame or another piece near the alternator when I was removing it. I’ll snap a pic of that and post it too, I’ll also trace it back to it origination to verify if this is what you guys are referring too

 

[dwest731]

So you are saying to connect jumper cables from the negative terminal to the motor under the car and try to start it then?

 

[Murderedsvt]

Just to make sure there’s a ground yes

 

[Murderedsvt]

When you replaced the alternator did you connect the ground up?

 

[dwest731]

I connected the 2 things I disconnected, the plug and the nut. I’m guessing the nut was the ground

 

[01yellercobra]

The nut is the main power source from the alternator to the battery.

 

[dwest731]

Gotcha, yeah I double checked twice and I reconnected everything