replaced alternator , now ive got lower voltage 1996 k1500 5.7L

[T1najero]

i replaced my delphi alternator because its been bouncing with my turn signal for a little while now but it stayed at 14 volts and never dropped below 13. i bought a AC Delco from summit and watched some YT vids ( my first time replacing an alternator ) after installation the gauge showed 12 volts with battery light and almost touching the orange zone. went to AutoZone to have them check it and they said the alternator didn't pass and was bad. bought a Duralast and still low voltage, but said now the battery was bad. went to oreilly's to see if the battery was under warranty. it wasnt and i bought the same battery. left for work and installed there. still low voltage.. what do i do now ??? am i missing something ?? im lost and on my last legs. and the last resort is going to a shop. even though theyll most likely charge me lots..

thanks in advance, much appreciated..

** UPDATE **: Alternator replaced and now I’ve got low voltage. (1996 k1500 5.7L)
I've figured out the problem today after looking over everything and found that the positive alternator end that hooks to the battery was off. felt like an idiot haha, i kept the AC Delco on and ended up calling a shop here in mesquite tx by the name of "Dwight and Don's auto care" i had trouble with the battery terminals after putting the bolt it there was a only tiny bit of thread and was difficult to bolt , he gave me some new ones and put it all together and only charged me 30 bucks, everything was good and i was on my way. im now at 14 volts and runs good, i returned the duralast and am probably keeping the AC Delco. and will keep the Delphi as a extra.. you live and learn haha. i will try to clean all the grounds/ replace what needs to be if torn or broken.. i dont know exactly where theyre all at but ill do some searching i appreciate every single individual who left a comment and gave me advice. thank you all!!
for everyone

 

[GoToGuy]

If your going to do your own repair, maintenance, you really should have the factory service manuals. GM wrote it, everything is in there. Every part is identified, all grounds , wiring , locations with drawings. All the information a tap away. In a sticky above are the link to get the manuals for your 96, get all of them.
Looking back , a simple multimeter a little diagnostics to verify and where would you be?

 

[AuroraGirl]

If your going to do your own repair, maintenance, you really should have the factory service manuals. GM wrote it, everything is in there. Every part is identified, all grounds , wiring , locations with drawings. All the information a tap away. In a sticky above are the link to get the manuals for your 96, get all of them.
Looking back , a simple multimeter a little diagnostics to verify and where would you be?

technically helms wrote it but yes

 

[GoToGuy]

Curious, wrote it or printed it? Who were the technical writer's?

 

[454cid]

Mine says Published by North American Operations GM. I don't see Helms printed at all.

I think the drawings are farmed out to a local elementary school.

 

[AuroraGirl]

Mine says Published by North American Operations GM. I don't see Helms printed at all.

I think the drawings are farmed out to a local elementary school.

if you have a printed manual, it was made by helms. gm put their name on it but im sure if you dig through it youll find Helms INC on it somewhere. Helms does the OEMs service manuals for almost every OEM. how many volumes is your set?

 

[AuroraGirl]

Curious, wrote it or printed it? Who were the technical writer's?

wrote it and printed, but the information would have been supplied by gm. im sure they technically worked together to make it. There are lots of inaccuries in service manuals, sadly, but usually just spelling/formatting, sometimes the image it shows is irrelevant to what it talks about. youll see these errors mostly when there are running changes in production that they fail to shift all the relevant information in the manual to reflect. For example, my 1999 buick park avenue manual contains a section about oldsmobile power steering pumps, because the 1999 manual was based on the service manual for the riviera/olds aurora which shared a manual, and the oldsmobile aurora used a TC (Type II) ps pump and the buick uses a CB style pump. They are both saginaw/gm pumps. but the section on the riviera was wrote before the park avenue went and got a new generation in 1997, so they copied the section to the park avenue and did not omit the part talking about the oldsmobile aurora pump.

now that kind of error is harmless, but annoying. My 1999 park avenue manual also contains references and drawings to a torque strut on the transmission which only existed on the 1991-1996 park avenues with a different transmission, the 2000 manual corrected that.

 

[454cid]

if you have a printed manual, it was made by helms. gm put their name on it but im sure if you dig through it youll find Helms INC on it somewhere. Helms does the OEMs service manuals for almost every OEM. how many volumes is your set?

4 volumes.

 

[Carlosthehandyman]

If your going to do your own repair, maintenance, you really should have the factory service manuals. GM wrote it, everything is in there. Every part is identified, all grounds , wiring , locations with drawings. All the information a tap away. In a sticky above are the link to get the manuals for your 96, get all of them.
Looking back , a simple multimeter a little diagnostics to verify and where would you be?

I totally agree with you having the right service manuals. I first started working for GM dealerships in 1985. I started as a lube guy just to get my foot in the door. Back then it was hard to get in any dealerships. I stayed with GM all my career working in the parts department for nine years till I retired. When the dealerships went from manuals to computers they started throwing away all there service manuals so I only got these at the time. I did work for Cadillac for a while and passed some classes and got all of that years manuals and still have them, they are still brand new. Thought about selling them but probably wont get much for them. A lot of my contacts are gone or like me retired. If I can help with any questions, I'll give a try. Just don't expect and instant answer. I love this forum and hope to be a good and helpful link.