CK5
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2000 GMT400 CREW CAB SFA SWAP-The Warden: Fuel leak fixed and awaiting surgery…

The ultimate goal for this truck is tow duty/family camping trips/small offroad adventures.
Just drove back from KC with a failing alternator and hardly any head lights. Gauge was showing between 9 and 10 volts. Thank God for dual batteries. Was in blackout mode inside with no radio and no dash lights. The wife was getting a kick out of it.
I bet, my wife just loves breaking down/running out of gas/getting stuck in one of my trucks, all of which i have done with her multiple times.

Glad you made it.
 
Check your battery cables and connections.
Had that in my dodge just to figure out it was the factory shitty cables corroding from the inside.

Replaced with custombattetycables.com stuff
 
Just drove back from KC with a failing alternator and hardly any head lights. Gauge was showing between 9 and 10 volts. Thank God for dual batteries. Was in blackout mode inside with no radio and no dash lights. The wife was getting a kick out of it.

You mean...you had to flip the magic military switch? :eek1:

IMG_20110612_162329.jpg



:haha: :thumb:
 
And I’m back on this truck tonight. Decided I would go ahead and replace the bad alternator tonight with a good low mileage unit from work. In the process of replacing it, I tried to burn the truck down. I got in a hurry and forgot I was working on a diesel with dual batteries and left a hot wire laying on my ac line. After about 5 seconds I noticed some smoke and then tried to remove the wire only to lose grip and have it arc and bounce around some more on the ac line. After a couple seconds of that I got ahold of it with some pliers. Once it was secured I disconnected the OTHER positive terminal and assessed the damages.

Ac line is scarred, but fine. The wire to the back of the alternator is fried in multiple spots. Part of the lead had melted from the battery terminal and soldered everything together.

03E2C5B3-963F-4EBC-ADAA-41C2574AEB2A.jpeg

F3C3363C-704F-4479-A622-B64B47B4FEF4.jpeg

F7B02063-F6A5-46A6-83DD-6194CF7BD760.jpeg

Got most of the wiring separated and ready for a new wire to the alternator. Going to pick up some solder and heat shrink to do it right tomorrow and put it back together.

8AC0E322-3279-4012-A165-AC04FD0AEE3B.jpeg
 
Man, we all have days like that.

I should have the battery & alt wiring off of a 95 6.5 I parted in good shape.
It's yours for shipping if you're interested...just pm me.
 
And I’m back on this truck tonight. Decided I would go ahead and replace the bad alternator tonight with a good low mileage unit from work. In the process of replacing it, I tried to burn the truck down. I got in a hurry and forgot I was working on a diesel with dual batteries and left a hot wire laying on my ac line. After about 5 seconds I noticed some smoke and then tried to remove the wire only to lose grip and have it arc and bounce around some more on the ac line. After a couple seconds of that I got ahold of it with some pliers. Once it was secured I disconnected the OTHER positive terminal and assessed the damages.

Ac line is scarred, but fine. The wire to the back of the alternator is fried in multiple spots. Part of the lead had melted from the battery terminal and soldered everything together.

View attachment 263555

View attachment 263556

View attachment 263557

Got most of the wiring separated and ready for a new wire to the alternator. Going to pick up some solder and heat shrink to do it right tomorrow and put it back together.

View attachment 263558

So...you melted your wire and didn't blow the fuseable link? :screwy: :doah:

Spend the $7 and get battery disconnects.


c4fcdb77-36e9-4c6a-a783-fd7f526922c4_1.8a0031b57a989ca3db0f71126f879302.jpeg
 
I'm impressed you were able to melt the copper and lead without melting the aluminum tubing. If the battery terminal is missing metal you're probably missing some threads. A longer 3/8" bolt with a jam nut is also a good idea. Give those few remaining threads a chance of surviving.
 
And I’m back on this truck tonight. Decided I would go ahead and replace the bad alternator tonight with a good low mileage unit from work. In the process of replacing it, I tried to burn the truck down. I got in a hurry and forgot I was working on a diesel with dual batteries and left a hot wire laying on my ac line. After about 5 seconds I noticed some smoke and then tried to remove the wire only to lose grip and have it arc and bounce around some more on the ac line. After a couple seconds of that I got ahold of it with some pliers. Once it was secured I disconnected the OTHER positive terminal and assessed the damages.

Ac line is scarred, but fine. The wire to the back of the alternator is fried in multiple spots. Part of the lead had melted from the battery terminal and soldered everything together.

View attachment 263555

View attachment 263556

View attachment 263557

Got most of the wiring separated and ready for a new wire to the alternator. Going to pick up some solder and heat shrink to do it right tomorrow and put it back together.

View attachment 263558

WOW.... That's some impressive carnage.
 
Man, we all have days like that.

I should have the battery & alt wiring off of a 95 6.5 I parted in good shape.
It's yours for shipping if you're interested...just pm me.
I should be able to salvage this. I'll let you know either tonight or Thursday if I save it.
So...you melted your wire and didn't blow the fuseable link? :screwy: :doah:

Spend the $7 and get battery disconnects.


c4fcdb77-36e9-4c6a-a783-fd7f526922c4_1.8a0031b57a989ca3db0f71126f879302.jpeg
Yeah, I was surprised that the link was still ok. But the wire from the link to the battery is only a 14/16ga wire, where as the wire from the link to the alt is more like a 10ga. Not sure why they did it that way. Usually I don't have this issue, but I have been working on nothing but gassers for the last few months.
I'm impressed you were able to melt the copper and lead without melting the aluminum tubing. If the battery terminal is missing metal you're probably missing some threads. A longer 3/8" bolt with a jam nut is also a good idea. Give those few remaining threads a chance of surviving.
Yes, I am missing some threads. If you go back to the picture of the positive terminal, you can see that the bolt was not seated all the way into the terminal end. So once I got the bolt in there correctly and there is more than enough thread contact now.
I'm interested if he's not.
I should be able to salvage mine, and if that's the case it's all yours.
WOW.... That's some impressive carnage.
Yeah thanks. It's one of my better electrical fumbles.
I've done about the same, and know well the feeling of frustration that immediately follows. Glad all is okay.

David
Yeah, a 15min job turned into a multi-night project. But the good news is I did find some issues I didn't like, and I get to brush up on my soldering.
 

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