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Electical Woes

Mtn Gote

Sr. Member
Joined
Jun 14, 2006
Messages
853
Loc.
Sultan Wa.
I went wheeling a couple of weekends ago and my battery decided to get under the fender. Negative terminal was touching the fender. So we got the battery all held right and tried starting it, my bro said when I tried to start it sparks shot out of the altenator. Anyways kept going and then it would not run at all. finally after pulling me damn near the way out of the trail a guy in a j**p helped me out and found that the ignition box wasnt securely mounted right. (stiff JD susension rattled the bolts loose.) So we headed out of the trail, it was getting dark so I pulled the headlight switch. It died. pushed the light switch in, fired right up. Got it home eventually. Now, I wired in a Tach and followed the directions and everything. Hooked it to the light switch and the "+" coil wire. So there is a short right? also it acts like it wants to die when in 1st gear, manageable in 2nd, and in 3rd doing about 40 mph up it bucks like crazy. Whatcha think? Also how do you take out the switches like the light switch? I know theres a little button on top of it and I got the pull lever out and Im trying to get the wiring harness underneath the dash so I can check for shorts. Sorry for the long post! :p
 

DirtDonk

Contributor
Bronco Guru
Joined
Nov 3, 2003
Messages
47,275
Well, there's a few things in there to work on. First your negative terminal touching the fender wouldn't have caused any problems. It's hooked straight to the fender normally anyway. Through the wire of course, but still hooked to the fender, then the engine block.
If your positive side touched something then that's another story!

Sparks coiming from an alternator is BAD NEWS. Did he notice whether they were coming from inside or the back of the unit?
Have you checked your voltage with a meter? Is your ammeter in the dash showing any charge?
You have to do that first before you go any farther because you need to know if your battery is still getting charged by the alternator.
Sounds like it's not getting a regular charge.

The little pin is in a slightly awkward position, but it's get-to-able. Reach up there and feel around for the side of the switch body opposite the harness plug. You should feel a spring-loaded little nub on it. I forget what position it's in when installed in the dash, so you'll just have to feel around till you find it.
Pull the knob on the switch out while you're pushing the button. Sometimes you have to wiggle both the switch knob and the button around a little bit, but it should come out with just a little finesse.

Good luck.

Paul
 
OP
OP
M

Mtn Gote

Sr. Member
Joined
Jun 14, 2006
Messages
853
Loc.
Sultan Wa.
The sparks were shooting out the back my bro said. My friends dad came up to my house and checked the alt and said its charging fine. I got the knob out but how do you remove the switch from the dash? Just seems like its surging in 1st and 3rd. It stays constant in 2nd but if you let off a little bit in surges.
 

DirtDonk

Contributor
Bronco Guru
Joined
Nov 3, 2003
Messages
47,275
Don't know about the surging, but the switch has a little bezel on the outside of the dash that simply unscrews.
I say "simply" but it does take either a fancy spanner wrench or you can make do with either a small pair of needle-nose pliers with both tips stuc in the holes or slots in the bezel, or a pair of small-ish drift pins or punches.
With the punches however, you have to hold them both, which is a little awkward. The pliers are easier in my experience.

Paul
 

DirtDonk

Contributor
Bronco Guru
Joined
Nov 3, 2003
Messages
47,275
Also, with the sparkes coming from the back of the alternator and your finding other things coming loose, you might want to just go over the entire engine compartment (if you haven't already) and re-tighten everything down.
A loose nut on the main power output connector of the alternator can cause sparks. It'd usually happen all the time though, and not just once.
But check it anyway.

paul
 
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Mtn Gote

Sr. Member
Joined
Jun 14, 2006
Messages
853
Loc.
Sultan Wa.
Found the ground on the block was loose. tightened that up and then tried starting it. Thats when the sparks were flying.
 
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