techno101

Well I did an engine swap, and I don't have a clue what is wrong with it now. It left me stranded. I put on a new battery and new alternator and it will not hold a charge. The voltage meter drops fast! I can't even drive 3 miles without it going dead on me. Driving 55 MPH it stalls out. Not enough voltage to the fuel pump I guess. Does anyone have an idea what the hell is going on? I can't figure it out.......


350 cu in, TPI, Speed Density (1227730 ECM).

sheltonw3

have you checked the fuses?....there is a fuse that keeps the alt working properly plus the alt may have a bad amper inside too?!...and the fan belt may not be the right size?.....or even the relays? they will go bad after so long....most battery shops do free electrical testing these days!....so have it checked out!

techno101

I've checked fuses in the fuse panel under the dash and I checked a fuse in the harness up by the battery on the fender. They all looked fine to me. What kind of elecrical shop should I take it to? Or should I just use a regular mechanic?

84vett

You can take it to a auto zone, napa or what ever parts store you have around there and they should check it out for free. I have bought a bad battery before and have heard of peaple buying bad alternators before to. So you may have just got a bad part.

NINÅ

techno101

Could it be a bad ground connection?????

I had the external coil bolted the bracket with two grounds under it. The grounds are single black wires (2) coming out of the main engine harness. It was really loose and I could move the coil a lot. I took the two grounds and put them on the firewall along with an engine metal ground strap. The battery is being charged right now so hopefully that was problem, what do you guys think??

Hopefully its not a short, because I just had the harness converted from TBI to TPI by TPIparts.net. They were supposed to go through and clean and repair the harness during the conversion process. And it looked awesome when it came back.

bingo

iTrader: (2)

Those wires you mentioned are probably the ones tha fasten to a stud on the back of the cylinder head. The stud has engine and computer grounds and a ground strap to the firewall. This grounds the engine and everything. The way you have it should work, but it would look cleaner if you did it the factory way.

techno101

I'm also using taller than stock valve covers. I had to dent the drivers side cover to get the alternator to fit into place without the lead touching the cover. I have a peice of rubber between the cover and alternator screw hook up bolt. Could this be causing the alternator to short out or something??

B Rhodes

that shouldnt the alt case is grounded to the engine by being bolted to it. If it not grounded it wont work right.
----------
that shouldnt the alt case is grounded to the engine by being bolted to it. If it not grounded it wont work right.unless the 12v stud on the back is touching something thanthat is very bad!

techno101

well the stud isn't touching the valve cover but its really close, I have small piece of rubber (heater hose) about the size of a quarter between the cover and alternator lead stud. How close can they get without interference?

techno101

FIXED IT!!!!!! Stupid me, I had one too many wires on the starter solenoid. Had to re-route a hot wire back up to the collection post off the positive battery post. Charges great now.

84vett

Great