The Stupid Electronics Questions Thread

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Devin Foxwell

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Start with double checking your battery connections on both ends... at the battery AND at the starter. It sounds like there might be a charging issue, which could be a fading alternator or a bad connection. From there I would make sure the battery itself is good. It kind of sounds like the battery might be on the ragged edge.. If it is a loose connection that would tend to prevent full charging. Clean all connections and maybe trickle charge the battery overnight and see if that doesn't change it's behavior.

If the battery itself is bad or borderline, the behavior will return.


It could be the battery, i believe it is coming near the end of its 3 year life if it hasn't already passed it. I will check it though. But, wouldn't the alternator keep things going? It puts out 274A at 1800 RPM, which I am often at due to highway travels. In theory the battery is only needed for starting, once running the alt should provide power. The only thing that might cause issues is a loose battery ground, but my alt has a body and frame ground as well.

If it is partially due to loose cables, could i use a distribution block to channel things into one wire for the positive and one wire for the ground due to the amount of accessories i have? I'm thinking this will help prevent the wires from coming loose, since less will be bolted on. Thoughts?
 

Eveready

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It could be the battery, i believe it is coming near the end of its 3 year life if it hasn't already passed it. I will check it though. But, wouldn't the alternator keep things going? It puts out 274A at 1800 RPM, which I am often at due to highway travels. In theory the battery is only needed for starting, once running the alt should provide power. The only thing that might cause issues is a loose battery ground, but my alt has a body and frame ground as well.

If it is partially due to loose cables, could i use a distribution block to channel things into one wire for the positive and one wire for the ground due to the amount of accessories i have? I'm thinking this will help prevent the wires from coming loose, since less will be bolted on. Thoughts?

Those connections are engineered to be be reliable so the only issue would be the quality of connection deterioriating due to corrosion, looseness or dirt... or any combination. The alternator should keep it running IF the connection from the alternator is good, which takes you right back to the chicken or egg question you had before.

A new battery might hide a marginal alternator and a good solid alternator connection might hide a bad battery. My bet would be on a bad connection and perhaps a battery that has seen better days. A good cleanup first and then perhaps a battery. Realize that you are the guy on the scene and this is just my opinion based on things I have seen with various old vehicles. I would get it reliable as is before introducing any other variable like an add on power block. Good luck !
 

Devin Foxwell

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Those connections are engineered to be be reliable so the only issue would be the quality of connection deterioriating due to corrosion, looseness or dirt... or any combination. The alternator should keep it running IF the connection from the alternator is good, which takes you right back to the chicken or egg question you had before.

A new battery might hide a marginal alternator and a good solid alternator connection might hide a bad battery. My bet would be on a bad connection and perhaps a battery that has seen better days. A good cleanup first and then perhaps a battery. Realize that you are the guy on the scene and this is just my opinion based on things I have seen with various old vehicles. I would get it reliable as is before introducing any other variable like an add on power block. Good luck !

Yeah, I understand you can only speculate so much without actually looking at it in person. Ill definitely look into it. Im at work right now, so the wheels are turning in my head on what all I can do. Ill look at it when I can and post an update. Hopefully its good news, thank you for your help.
 

Eveready

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I have a question for you guys. What is the most common 88-94 cluster that I should look for that has a Tach? I have the original work truck cluster and would really like to add an OEM cluster of some sort with a tach. I don't need the police cluster as I doubt I would be brave enough to take mine above highway speeds. Just wondered what to look for in the yards.
 

Devin Foxwell

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Well, I cleaned off my battery terminals and wires. I believe the culprit was a heavily corroded factory positive wire. The ground wire did have some corrosion, but it wasnt horrible. Hopefully this solves my problem.
 

83GMCK2500

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Well, I cleaned off my battery terminals and wires. I believe the culprit was a heavily corroded factory positive wire. The ground wire did have some corrosion, but it wasnt horrible. Hopefully this solves my problem.

One overlooked area is often the overall condition of the cable. Is the insulation bulging or starting to deform near the terminal end? Once you have that much corrosion establish itself it will creep down the strands and reduce conductivity.

Examples from a used truck we picked up:
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Devin Foxwell

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One overlooked area is often the overall condition of the cable. Is the insulation bulging or starting to deform near the terminal end? Once you have that much corrosion establish itself it will creep down the strands and reduce conductivity.]

Mine wasn't that bad, but that cable was the culprit, i think it was overlooked when i did my alternator. keeping my fingers crossed though, about to head home and thats when it likes to act up. I almost got a**packed yesterday when my truck dies as i tried to pass an old granny going 30 in the fast lane. Thankfully i got my hazards on in time, traffic let me duck into a Michigan left.
 

Eveready

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Mine wasn't that bad, but that cable was the culprit, i think it was overlooked when i did my alternator.

Congrats on finding the problem. It is a good idea to get the truck really sorted electronically and mechanically to the factory standard before adding aftermarket gear that might confuse the issue. Glad you got it going. Looks like you might have a good rig.
 

Devin Foxwell

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Yeah, shes a solid truck when she wants to be. Shes basically a 50 year old women who is going through menopause, one day she acts great, others she acts horrible. But i believe the electrical is good to go again. Thanks for the help, to everyone that chimed in, i didnt think it would be that simple.

Sent from my LG-LS997 using Tapatalk
 

DerekTheGreat

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I have a question for you guys. What is the most common 88-94 cluster that I should look for that has a Tach? I have the original work truck cluster and would really like to add an OEM cluster of some sort with a tach. I don't need the police cluster as I doubt I would be brave enough to take mine above highway speeds. Just wondered what to look for in the yards.
What year is your truck?
If it's a 92-94 I'm fairly certain a 92-94 cluster with a tach already in it will work. Believe if you've got a V8 the donor needs to be a V8 as well. 88-91 were different; The moonie cluster obviously but the connector was also different, not to mention they had an internal DRAC module while the 92-94's had an external. So if your truck is an '88-91 the easiest option would be to try and find the unicorn '91 or 90.5 cluster with needles. It looks like a 92-94 appearance wise but drops right in with minimal modification. I've heard that if you have a 90.5-91 truck and it has moonies, the unicorn needle cluster will drop in with no wiring changes needed, but if you've got the '88-90 with moonies, you'll need to move some wires around and add one for the tach. I've done the swap twice with great results but the hard part is finding the cluster. Not to mention if it isn't set up for your tire size and gear ratio, it'll need to be reset and the kits are gone. There's a work around for that I think though.
 
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