starting troubles..

[QBuff02]

OK guys,
so my '82 K30 is having electrical gremlins.. I know that the wiring on it is a 35 year old rats nest of bad decisions at this point and I plan on rewiring the whole truck this winter, but the problem I have now is it acts like it doesn't have enough voltage to crank over all the time. It has a brand new battery, brand new starter, all new positive and negative cables, all new fusible links and connectors to starter and alternator, so I'd say the "starting" electrical is 90%ish.. the battery shows good voltage static, but if it sits for a few days with the battery hooked up, it acts as if there isn't enough voltage to engage the starter all the way. (partial engagement, engine "grinds" and tries to partially turn but doesn't FULLY turn over) and if I retry starting it a few times, sometimes it will go ahead and crank and fire right up, other times, if I put a battery charger to the battery, even on 2 amp, literally touch them to the terminals and say to my girlfriend "try it".. it will fire right up within a few seconds of putting the charger on it. And I just noticed this weekend since most of the gauges don't work (brought my volt meter home from work and also put one of those cheap 3 gauge packs in it) that once it's running, it's actually overcharging. I was leaning towards an ignition switch being the culprit, but what do you guys think it could be.?! And other than the obvious overcharging, which I am going to get a new alternator this weekend coming up. Where should I be looking for good voltage, not good voltage and potential issues in the harnesses? Key switch? It makes me want to gut and rewire the entire damn truck now! instead of waiting!

 

[Honky Kong jr]

What's over charging to you. Also could be your starter is ready to **** the bed.

 

[QBuff02]

14.5-15+ volts, and the starter is brand new, which could mean nothing with aftermarket parts.! Lol But this problem predates all the new electrical stuff I have installed and seems to be getting more and more regular. I've had to put a battery charger on when the battery was showing 12+ volts to "help" make the engine rotate to start. sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't.. it almost acts like its not getting enough voltage somewhere between point a and b from time to time, that's why I was leaning towards maybe the ignition switch or possibly connector to it.. Also, I wondered about starter shims, even though the starter I replaced did not have one and when she wants to, she cranks right over with no interference.

 

[Honky Kong jr]

Go threw the meter or test light tests in this thread.

http://www.gmsquarebody.com/threads/low-battery-constant-drain.19252/

 

[Oldrider]

What he said. If the battery is low, the voltage you are seeing while the engine is running is not uncommon. Good luck.

 

[QBuff02]

Investigated the wiring some last night, found if I wiggle the wires under the dash going to the steering column/ignition switch the truck will crank right over so now I have to drop that down and take a closer look at the ignition switch and the connectors going to it. But I've always wondered about this little "vehicle security system" box down by the fuse box. It's tied right into the purple wire. Anyone seen these and know if I can just cut it out of the harness and put the wiring back to "stock"..? It's spliced into the purple wire and there are wires going off to points unknown under the dash and wires that are scotch locked to other wires and wires that don't go anywhere, just laying there. As you can see from the picture, like I said that the wiring is a 35 year old rats nest of bad decisions! Also, I had the battery on a charger all day, and it was fully charged, and as soon as the truck fired up last night, it went to 15.4 volts and stayed there on my volt meter and slowly came down to 15 after it ran about 5 minutes. that's too high for my liking. thinking I need to just replace the alternator before something else happens.. (side note) -Part of the reason I replaced the fusible links at the starter originally is because I had a whoops and fried one of them, (replaced all just for insurance and I had the tools out already) thinking that little incident may have took the alternator with it..

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[QBuff02]

update- after much aggravation, Saturday morning the truck didn't want to crank after several times of driving it the previous weekend and being pretty much fine. Didn't think much of it when I hopped in, It had sat for about a week, and then I twisted the key and it did the whole "grind but not fully engage" so I popped the hood, Put the voltmeter to it and the battery was showing 12.3, friggin' more than plenty to start the truck. But alas, id had enough, I grabbed ahold of that "Goodwrench vehicle security system" box down under the dash and proceeded to cut every damn wire to it and from it! Respliced in a good jumper across the purple wire, cleaned up a few loose ends left over and without doing anything other than remove that box, literally touched the key and the truck was running! I must've started and stopped it a couple dozen times and drove it 50 miles altogether this weekend after giving that box the old heave-ho into the garbage can without a single hitch, every time I touch the key, the truck is running! And I'm pretty sure the problem is now solved.

 

[Honky Kong jr]

Are your voltages stabilized to an acceptable level now? I've installed a **** ton of those keyless entry boxes on a certain German vehicle.....I get yelled at when I say which.. @Cuba so I won't but usually after a few years they start to play hell on the rest of the car.....

 

[QBuff02]

I did notice that it still seemed to want to go well north of 15 volts the first few times I started and ran it after my de-wiring fit.. Lol But even say yesterday it would jump up around 15 when started but it quickly seems to stabilize and come back down in the strong mid-upper 13's and stay there. Which it would not do before! so that makes me think now I could just have a small connection/ground issue or something somewhere.. because I'd say that's actually pretty normal. I was going to let it sit for a day or two and make a comparison, but I just have a feeling its both going to start and not "peg" the volt gauge now.

 

[Honky Kong jr]

Never hurts to add a ground or two for good measure. I have like 5 or 6 extras and although it's an 87 it's carved by my choice.

 

[QBuff02]

Truck sat all last week, hopped in it Saturday morning to drive over to my friends house to work on his '84 K20, held my breath, gave the loud pedal a pair of stabs and hit the key... Fired right up! No starting issues all weekend either! I can't believe I didn't rip that security box out way sooner, but at least it got me working on the electrical system and solved a bunch of other problems in the process.. Lol