Trivial Electrical question.

Dbeck002

New Member
Apr 30, 2005
710
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South florida
1991 5.0 EFI.


There is a yellow cable (about 10 gauge) going to the battery side of the starter solenoid. I unplugged it from the solenoid and isolated it (just the eye lug thats on it) i tested for resistance to ground. It shows no resistance to the chassis or engine.

This means my battery power can short right through there, whats going on?

Is this normal? Please help, I need my car drivable by tomorrow morning.


P.S I know Jrich is tired of hearing about my electrical problems, sorry man!
 
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What was your meter reading? It sounds like it read infinite resistance, which means no continuity to ground.

I just woke up so maybe I'm missing the boat here.........
 
The meter reads that there is zero resistance which means a closed circuit between that wire and the ground which means battery current can short through there.


also,


i drove for 2 minutes then the voltmeter drooped down to showing cnostant low voltage which means alternator aint charging.

I just had this thing tested to, i dont understand whats going on.

I am just looking for possible shorts.

The alternator is ok and so are the grounds. All my accessories work when i turn KOEO. But i am unsure as to why my perfectly good alt is not showing charge, but sometimes will.

Maybe there is a loose cable somewhere?

Please try to diagnose this with me, i need the car drivable for tomorrow.

Thanks
 
I have never found a ground that read zero resistance. I think your meter might be telling you otherwise (why I asked for the exact display). ;)
 
well its not a ground that i measured, its the yellow accessories cable that goes to the solenoid.


I do not know why my alternator is not charging, the only thing that could possible be doing this is my KOEO 12v source to the alt to activate it.

If the alt is not getting the signal to turn on, then it wont charge even if its turning, right?

I tried to fix the green wire, it seemed loose. it still wont charge. I dont know what it is.
 
You are reading the combined parallel resistance of all the circuits on the yellow wire. It is the feed for all the fuse links except the fuse link for the alternator. I would expect it to have a very low resistance reading.
 
Dbeck002 said:
I drove for 2 minutes then the voltmeter drooped down to showing constant low voltage which means alternator aint charging.

Are you basing your 'no charge' condition on your stock voltage gauge? Have you verified the condition by hooking your meter up under the hood?
 
HISSIN50 said:
I have never found a ground that read zero resistance. I think your meter might be telling you otherwise (why I asked for the exact display). ;)
Reading resistance across a circuit with power still in it can cause some very strange readings - even negative resistance, depending on the meter and which way the leads are placed in the circuit..
 
UPDATE:

<vent on>


F--king bull**** load boss alternator from ebay was the problem, it always is. this is the 3rd time it fried on me. POS, i will never buy a load boss again. All you guys out there hear me, do not buy a POS^2 load boss alternator.

</vent off>

I put my stock alt back in and it charges just fine. All my wiring was fine, nothing cracked or broken. Car started up and showed full charge, except now my electric rad fan might violate this alt.


I think i have discovered the real problem, though. There is another thread going on right now about how to wire a 3G.

Turns out i read this procedure and didnt do something they did. They wired the stock black/orange cables to the 3G AND the added heavy cable.

I just wired heavy cable and taped up my black/oranges neglecting them. I think Jrich said something a couple months back about the importance of those fusable links and how they should stay in the line of charge.

Hmm maybe hes right.


<vent on>

Bull**** load boss

</vent off>
 
jrichker said:
Reading resistance across a circuit with power still in it can cause some very strange readings - even negative resistance, depending on the meter and which way the leads are placed in the circuit..
I seem to recall that from E & M experiments in the lab. Reversal of the leads on the power source [or one of the meters] would swap the polarity of the reading.
I still never got a true reading of zero though. I guess I am not doing things right.