NEED ELECTRICAL HELP BAD!

ok, here is the deal. i pulled the dash out because i thought that how messed up the wiring was something was grounding out or something causeing my battery to die. not the case. i have gone through all the wires under the dash and fixed everything there.

what it is doing is this... i can jump it off just fine. it will crank right up and i can drive it. i drove it about 3 miles tonight and when i got home and went to pull into my spot all my lights dimmed big time. when i put it into reverse they dimmed almost to nothing. i tried throwing it in neutral and reving it up but that didn't help. it just dies leaving me with no electrical power at all. i have already cranked it up and pulled the negative off the battery and the alternator is keeping it charged. i even pulled both the alternator and the battery off and had them tested. both are good.

the way the negative was wired before off the battery was like this... the 4 gauge came off the battery to the firewall. from the firewall an 8 guage ran to the frame, then there was a wire from the block to the frame, and from the frame to the alternator. so i went to the auto parts store and got a longer neg. cable and ran it like this... from the battery to the frame and the alternator and engine all to the same spot on the frame.

what i think my problem is, is that either my alternator regulator went out, my battery is to small, or the grounding wires are all wired wrong. i need some help before i start spending a lot of unnessasary money on getting this thing right.

Did they load test the battery and alternator.Lots of batteries "check ok" until u put them under a load and then u find out they have a bad cell.Something tells me the ground wire from engine and alternator shouldnt go to the same spot.I will go out tonite and check how my truck is grounded and let u know. Reg batteries in these trucks are pretty small in terms of CCA.Are u running lots of electrronics?BJ

i don't think that they load test it. i just took it to oreilly's and they put it on a machine. i talked to my dad last night and i think that my ground wires need to be rewired. but the thing is that i haven't had this problem until just recently. i have put about 10 hrs of drive time on this truck without this problem which is making me think that it is the voltage regulator going bad. but i really don't know how to tell if it is going bad. i'm not running anything aftermarket except for the 2 compressors. there are no amps or anything as far as a stereo system. i am going to rewire the grounds today and order a voltage regulator. that should be here tomorrow. i might go buy a battery today too.

OReillys may be able to check vr for u and alternator.Leave lites on for a few,crank truck and put meter on system.Alt should be putting out about 13.2 voltsand the system should not be getting up and down spikes in the voltage if regulator is ok,=>BJ

ok, i will try that today. if it makes it over there. haha. i have noticed that when the compressors kick on and the lights are on is when it kills it. so with that said would you think the battery is my problem. cause that is what i am thinking but i will try to get it over to oreilly's today.

sorta sounds like you have a bad cell in the battery....if you do get one get a yellow top optima if you have the $$

ok, i figured this much out today, this morning i had to jump it off. so i let it run for a little while and later went back out to it and it cranked right up. so i think the battery is good. i let it sit and run for about 5 or 10 minutes and worked up the courage to drive it across town to have o'reillys check out the alternator. i made it over there and this is what happened. he put the tester on with nothing turned on, just the truck running. it checks good, then all i did was turn the headlights on and it read low voltage. so i think what is going on is that when i am driving with the lights on and slow down to stop or make a turn, and i put the blinker on, it kills it. sometimes the compressors are running too so that is also a very big draw. so i guess i am going to buy an alternator today. i am about to go check if my 89's will fit onto my 83. if so i will do that for now.

By George ,I bleeve u got it.Good luck.BJ

i sure hope so. i will keep you guys posted.

It definatly sounds like your alt is having a hard time keeping up with everything. If the regulator goes out your voltage will read much higher than the usual which can be anywhere from 13 to 14.4 volts. Sounds like the alt is tired and ready to be retired.