needing some help ....

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ice205

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ok here we go .. i bought a new alternator , new interstate battery, and re wired all the wires , they were old and getting stiff.. and have new gauge also .. but yet gauge fluctuates ive checked and even sanded with dremal tool to remove paint or any debree from bolt area for clean grounding ....after all was in and going was perfect for a few weeks ..then all the sudden my gauge pegs out .. and went back to normal .. yes alternator was from napa i took it back and they tested it and said it was fine .. and yet .. after a couple days battery is dead .... i charged battery and let it sit for a few days and test it 2 times a day with meter it still holds charge my 85 suburban has dash clock in it ... any help from any body would be nice ... ive even found out that i can use 86 parts but nothing after that year will work correctly and what is this thing with the diode or fusable link for ..i dont and never had them on any of my other trucks never had a problem ................i took them out ..
any and all info is greatly excepted
 

87ChevyR10

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Well, for starters, the fusable link goes between starter and battery or alt (uncertain). Sounds like to me you have something wired wrong and the battery isn't being charged by the alt. The in-dash clock doesn't draw enough juice to drain the battery quickly.

I'm certain others will chime in on this, too.
 

ice205

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i thought the same .. but rev motor a few rpms and i get more power and volts go up to manufacturer recommendations... why do volts and amps fluctuate with new parts .. never have i ever had problems like this my starter is even new also ....
 

MrMarty51

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Those fusible links are actually a smaller gauge wire that will burn out if a short heats them up to the melting point. Keeps the entire harnesses from burning up and creating a fire.
Is the grounding strap from the firewall to the back of the engine hooked up and is the grounding surfaces clean.
I do`nt think the 85 would have much of anything to draw down the battery, any at all.
Remove the neg battery cable then touch it to the batterys neg. terminal, if You get a pretty healthy looking spark, then, I would be looking for a short.
There might be a very slight spark, depending on if you have a radio or any other components that has a memory installed in it, and the clock too will be a very slight spark, hardly enough to be seen.
An amp draw test can also be set up, but, that will require a multimeter with an amps draw check capability installed into it.
Follow the directions that come with the meter for an amp draw test.
While You have that neg. battery cable disconnected, if it was Me, I would be for getting a couple of fusible link kits and get those reinstalled, there should be one from the alternator and another from the starters battery cable terminal. There should be two wires from that terminal, one large battery cable and another smaller wire with the fusible link in it,if You did`nt mess with that one then just leave it alone, unless about half of Your electrical equipment is`nt working.
 

87ChevyR10

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i thought the same .. but rev motor a few rpms and i get more power and volts go up to manufacturer recommendations... why do volts and amps fluctuate with new parts .. never have i ever had problems like this my starter is even new also ....

Yeah, that isn't right. My alt supplies just under 14 volts even at idle. AS MrMarty suggested, check your connections and make sure your grounds are grounding. A little bit a resistance can create havoc on an electrical system.

Good luck
 

ice205

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ive tried and checked with meter on grounding and all positives.. and nothing is showing up .. so i been debating on getting a new regulator for my alternator.. and seeing . if that dont fix my problem ........or maybe pulling my fuse box and cleaning all connections just to be sure all connections are connecting to the fullest ............... cant hurt ...........and yes the ground from motor strap has been cleaned and checked .. but have ? there 3 wires from alternator one is main red wire ....the other 2 are in the connection terminal one red other white ...one is fire wall block other 2 is going to starter ( one is) other is going to fire wall to fuse box if i had a good wire diagram for that alone would help .. ive changed one wire at a time that was bad just to make sure nothing got crossed but ..the dealer did put the motor in and wired it so not sure if all is right 85 chevy suburban early year model 700r4 transmission which is going to the shop for a rebuild complete that is and i will double check it when it comes back because the numbers are matching numbers .......

sorry for being so long but more info is always the best policy ive learned through the yrs ....
 

89Suburban

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Shoot me a PM with your email and I will try to send a wiring diagram file to you for your truck.
 

ice205

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ok i sent 2 email and pm one says email the other says ,.. wiring
 

89Suburban

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Ok got it, on it's way
 

ice205

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thxs ...89 for the diagram it helped a lot ...........tore all the old crap off and redid all to the diagram and used new wires .. now its actually working like it should .........maybe the old wires where just so dried and so on that one could have been broke or just really shot ....thx
 

thatcanuckguy

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thats awsome that you got her all figured out. remember the old saying: if its got ****, or tires , you,re bound to have problems with either of them. but will prolly ever figure out the problems with one of them.
 

89Suburban

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Good job, nice to hear a success story from time to time lol
 

ice205

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soon my transmission will be in the shop then hopefully then the lift kit .....and 38s or 44 s ...does any one have a clue on what all type of vehicles have buckets and consols in middle that would interchange ..
 

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