Can I just use a multimeter?? If so and this is dumb but how do I use it to test the terminal? I build blocks and know everything about metal not electrical. I think thats why I am in stupid mode. Sorry
CK5
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Rookie preparing!! Help experts please
- Thread starter ground_up
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rufusbooth
1/2 ton status
Hey, at some point everyone has to start from zero when it comes to electrical. 
Yes, you can in this case use either a multimeter set to volts or a test light.
Multimeter, you would set it it volts and put the black test lead on the negative terminal of the battery. The red test lead you will then place on any location you want to see if there is positive voltage such as both of the terminals that 4x4high pointed you to.
test light, you would hook the alligator clip to the negative terminal of the battery and the probe tip would touch any terminal you want to see if there is voltage such as the terminals 4x4high pointed out to you.
I personally prefer a multimeter for its versatility beyond just looking for voltage.
Hope that helps,
Rufus
Yes, you can in this case use either a multimeter set to volts or a test light.
Multimeter, you would set it it volts and put the black test lead on the negative terminal of the battery. The red test lead you will then place on any location you want to see if there is positive voltage such as both of the terminals that 4x4high pointed you to.
test light, you would hook the alligator clip to the negative terminal of the battery and the probe tip would touch any terminal you want to see if there is voltage such as the terminals 4x4high pointed out to you.
I personally prefer a multimeter for its versatility beyond just looking for voltage.
Hope that helps,
Rufus
rufusbooth
1/2 ton status
No worries man. In this case you want to leave all the grounds in place. If you were to disconnect the ground then you would not get any voltage readings. :-)
Cheers,
Rufus
Cheers,
Rufus
Ok thank you. Tested it. The wire leading to the pass side(circled in red) gave me nothing. The Red wire going to the driver gave me voltage(circled in yellow) around 12.54. The yellow wire with the one that gives me voltage gives me nothing. When I left them connected to the terminal I had a reading of 12.60 and the other results came from disconnecting them from the terminal and testing them individually??
The wire you have circled in red is a fusible link and since you have no power there that fusible link is either blown OR you did not get it on the large starter post when you replaced the starter. From that junction block the red wire goes down to the large post on the starter.
Climb underneath the truck and make sure there isn't a wire dangling around down there. The large starter post should have the positive battery cable AND that red wire, the S terminal (small terminal closest to the block) should have a purple wire connected to it and the R terminal (small terminal closest to the frame) shouldn't have any wire on it.
Climb underneath the truck and make sure there isn't a wire dangling around down there. The large starter post should have the positive battery cable AND that red wire, the S terminal (small terminal closest to the block) should have a purple wire connected to it and the R terminal (small terminal closest to the frame) shouldn't have any wire on it.
Ok I can check that right now. I pulled the wire off the junction block when i tested it. So I hope that does not affect the results. Now if it is blown, how would I go about replacing it? Is the fuse between the line or part of the fuse block its self?
As long as you used either the test light or volt meter on the wire itself when you had it disconnected. It should have battery voltage at the wire and then when connected to the junction block the voltage transfers to the other terminal.
The wire itself is call a fusible link wire meaning that the wire melts when it reaches too many amps to prevent an electrical fire. There is a section of the wire near the starter which usually will have a larger look to it and that's where the wire will melt. In order to replace this wire with another fusible link wire you need to cut the old wire above the melted fusible link and then solder in a new fusible link wire or use butt connectors and heat shrink tubing.
k deal. I can for sure do that. Now where can I get a fuse link wire? I dont need to replace the entire thing, I can just cut and replace? And yes I had the batt reading perfect on the other side and nothing on the fuse link wire. So I know the volts were testing correct. I went back and forth. Thank you so much!!
Any auto parts store will either have the fusible link wire or can order it for you. There are several different amp rating fusible link wires and i can't remember which size is used in this location but i'm sure if you have a good parts store they will know.
Napa should have it.
Thank you sir. I will be there grabbing one tomorrow. I hope this is the problem. I still need to figure out where my engine block grounds are. I think that is what was giving me a short. Thats why I started cleaning things. Thank you again.
A short is caused by a "HOT" wire grounding out. A ground wire cannot short out as it IS the ground.
U are very correct. My orig problem was my headlights would flicker when hitting a bump or stopping and changing the weight. Also the gauges went crazy and moved all over while power was being supplied. So I figured it was a ground and started cleaning all ground terminals. After I hooked everything up, my batter was killed off to no return after a charge and the truck wouldnt kick the starter at all. So I was stumped on what I could have done wrong?? Any way my main concern is kicking the starter so I can crank her. Its been almost a week now. 
Check ALL of the grounds under the dash to make sure they are clean and tight. The issues with your gauges sounds like a loose ground not a short of any kind.
Yes, those grounds are where the headlights, dash lights and some other underdash stuff is grounded.
This is also why you need to replace the broken ground strap from the firewall to the engine block. The broken piece you have a pic of near the heater box goes to the back of the passenger side head. I would buy a NEW ground strap from Napa as well. I will NEVER underestimate those ground straps again after the problem i had with one years ago.
Ok everyone. I got it running!!!!!!!!!!! It was the batt grounds and chaise to radiator with headlight grounds that caused my flickering lights. So none more faulty grounding!! I wasnt the fuse-able link either. I checked for the wire and went to napa today to get the link wire and talked to an old school chevy lover. My luck!!! He has tore apart chevy's forever to chop and rebuild to make into show trucks and cars. When I told him my symptoms he smirked and laughed a little. He asked me how well I had looked under the dash to see if everything was ok. I seriously looked pretty damn well(I thought anyway). Well he said purple is your friend. He told me to look for 2 purple wires leading to a clip. So I went home and looked under the dash and on the left side of the steering shaft I fallowed 2 purple wires to a clip in which the damn thing wasnt all the way plugged into!!! I said no damn way! I pushed it all the way in and then gave it a crank and bam! The starter ran. So I had to get ready to crank it all the way(it hasnt been started for 5 or 6 days now). Yup I drove her around every where lol!! Thank you alllll sooooo much!! You have no idea what it means to me for you all to help a weirdo rookie and excepting him. Thank u!! I will now continue on this project. I will post how to's in OP for future rook's. Thank you!!
