charging issues again and i need help, ASAP!!

[Sinner]

hey guys,
i had an issue with the roush that while driving the battery light would come on and and go off and then it just stayed on. i got very lucky and the car died as i pulled into my parking spot at home because the battery was completely dead. i assumed it was the alt due to how it was acting and the car sat for about 2 months like this. i knew the battery was toast so i bought a new battery and put it in so i could drive to the shop and it started right up and drove great until the new battery lost it's life and i had to get it towed the rest of the way to the shop.

now, once at the shop it got a new ford battery (another new battery cuz i returned the walmart battery) and a new ford alt. now while at the shop it sat for about 3 months getting tunered here and there but as he finished up the car the battery light is back on and the battery is dying again.... WTF?

the shop took the alt out again to check and the connections and everything looks good but he's not sure which wires should or shouldn't have power going into the alt. he's trying to look for any reason this is happening and we need you guy's help.

the 3 wires coming to the alt are these:
orange/blue with 12v on it.
yellow/blue nothing
yellow/white nothing.

is that how the wires should be and what else could it be? it could be a bad alt but new from ford seems unlikely

thanks

 

[Sinner]

bump

 

[8306gt]

hey guys,
i had an issue with the roush that while driving the battery light would come on and and go off and then it just stayed on. i got very lucky and the car died as i pulled into my parking spot at home because the battery was completely dead. i assumed it was the alt due to how it was acting and the car sat for about 2 months like this. i knew the battery was toast so i bought a new battery and put it in so i could drive to the shop and it started right up and drove great until the new battery lost it's life and i had to get it towed the rest of the way to the shop.

now, once at the shop it got a new ford battery (another new battery cuz i returned the walmart battery) and a new ford alt. now while at the shop it sat for about 3 months getting tunered here and there but as he finished up the car the battery light is back on and the battery is dying again.... WTF?

the shop took the alt out again to check and the connections and everything looks good but he's not sure which wires should or shouldn't have power going into the alt. he's trying to look for any reason this is happening and we need you guy's help.

the 3 wires coming to the alt are these:
orange/blue with 12v on it.
yellow/blue nothing
yellow/white nothing.

is that how the wires should be and what else could it be? it could be a bad alt but new from ford seems unlikely

thanks

I would venture to guess the alternator is bad, my car has 26,000 miles on it and am on the 3rd Ford alternator which is also bad. Mine have all charged fine but a bearing was going out on the original at 5000 miles and had the cam position sensor code, 2nd cam position sensor code, 3rd bearings again, so I am now officially done with their junk alternators.

 

[Sinner]

thank you for the reply and i might change it again.

i was told my my friend who works on car electrical sysytems and was told that the battery cables both positive and negative go bad on our cars too, so i will change those as well.

come on guys, looking for input

 

[Sinner]

come on guys... some help or ideas.

TY, 8306GT

 

[86GT351]

You need to start with basics and check for a Parasitic Draw. Need a Test Light to check. Open Hood. Disconnect Negative cable Only! Connect test Light to cable end and then touch the tip of test light to battery post. Does the light turn on? Yes....You have a draw. No you don't. If you have a draw you can get a Volt Ohm Meter and check how many Amps it is drawing or you can individually pull 1 fuse at a time to check which circuit the draw is in.

If the light turns on, unplug the regulator plug to the Alternator and see if it goes out. If it does, your Alternator is bad.

 

[Sinner]

^^^^ thank you and i'll get on it.

 

[Sky Render]

You need to start with basics and check for a Parasitic Draw. Need a Test Light to check. Open Hood. Disconnect Negative cable Only! Connect test Light to cable end and then touch the tip of test light to battery post. Does the light turn on? Yes....You have a draw. No you don't. If you have a draw you can get a Volt Ohm Meter and check how many Amps it is drawing or you can individually pull 1 fuse at a time to check which circuit the draw is in.

If the light turns on, unplug the regulator plug to the Alternator and see if it goes out. If it does, your Alternator is bad.

There is a much better way to check for parasitic draw if you have a multimeter. A test light may not light up if the parasitic draw is small.

http://www.motoiq.com/magazine_articles/id/1952/pageid/3112/basic-electrical-troubleshooting.aspx

 

[MexGT]

If you need to change the alt, just get a new Motorcraft, skip the PA or any rebuilt ones ... been there done that and I've even messed with a faulty PA before.

Think I'm in my 4th alt and 4th battery too, usually when the alt goes bad, the battery starts to act and viceversa.

 

[Sinner]

thanks for the input guys and it's a brand new battery and alt that hasn't even been driven on. it's just been dyno tuned and driven around the block for data logging.