sarasotausmc
New Member
- Joined
- Mar 12, 2006
- Location
- Jacksonville, NC
1987 GMC Jimmy, 5.7/TBI, stock.
Driving today, truck completely shut down, and immediately too. No engine, no radio, nothing that I could tell. No idiot lights came on. Get it over to the side, truck turned over (slower than usual) ok thought battery, cables or alternator. Opened up hood, hot (positive) cable melted slightly, two wires from alternator not in good shape either, but looked intact. Let it cool for a while, tried to start, battery dead.
Put new battery in, and engine cranks fine, still no fuel. Starter fluid down the throat, there's fire but still no fuel. Wipers, blinkers, brake lights, power rear window and heater/defrost fan all work. Headlights, parking lights and radio no power. Of course no fuel, so figure no fuel pump either.
My best guess is something has grounded out, but for the life of me can't figure it out. Checked positive battery with disconnected ground cable, no circuit. Checked positive battery with chassis ground, have a path. Doesn't sound right to me, but was told it should be like that, still doesn't sound right. Fuses all checked fine under dash (only fuse location I know of). Alternator a year a half old, voltage meter consistently read 13-14 prior to this and around 12 with key on (not running). The only thing electrical I did to the truck is cut the power wires to the power doors when I took them off. Each is cut flush with the insulation, capped well individually with elect. tape, and has run fine for two weeks of daily driving that way, so pretty much ruling that out. Only other thing I could think of is voltage regulator, which is internal to alternator. The battery cables need to be changed, but I think due to today now more than anything.
Can I pull fuses on the radio and headlights to isolate those? Don't even know what fuse to pull for fuel pump, and that wouldn't help anyway. Not sure what fuse is for power windows/locks.
Anything else I should be checking? I don't want to get it towed, have better stuff to spend my money on. Thanks.
Driving today, truck completely shut down, and immediately too. No engine, no radio, nothing that I could tell. No idiot lights came on. Get it over to the side, truck turned over (slower than usual) ok thought battery, cables or alternator. Opened up hood, hot (positive) cable melted slightly, two wires from alternator not in good shape either, but looked intact. Let it cool for a while, tried to start, battery dead.
Put new battery in, and engine cranks fine, still no fuel. Starter fluid down the throat, there's fire but still no fuel. Wipers, blinkers, brake lights, power rear window and heater/defrost fan all work. Headlights, parking lights and radio no power. Of course no fuel, so figure no fuel pump either.
My best guess is something has grounded out, but for the life of me can't figure it out. Checked positive battery with disconnected ground cable, no circuit. Checked positive battery with chassis ground, have a path. Doesn't sound right to me, but was told it should be like that, still doesn't sound right. Fuses all checked fine under dash (only fuse location I know of). Alternator a year a half old, voltage meter consistently read 13-14 prior to this and around 12 with key on (not running). The only thing electrical I did to the truck is cut the power wires to the power doors when I took them off. Each is cut flush with the insulation, capped well individually with elect. tape, and has run fine for two weeks of daily driving that way, so pretty much ruling that out. Only other thing I could think of is voltage regulator, which is internal to alternator. The battery cables need to be changed, but I think due to today now more than anything.
Can I pull fuses on the radio and headlights to isolate those? Don't even know what fuse to pull for fuel pump, and that wouldn't help anyway. Not sure what fuse is for power windows/locks.
Anything else I should be checking? I don't want to get it towed, have better stuff to spend my money on. Thanks.