Hi,

My battery drained. So I went to Autozone and the battery checked good and we even did the deep charge. AThey hooked their tool and said that the alternator is not charging well. So I got a replacement alternator. The mistake I did was that I did not have my old alternator checked and just replaced the alternator. However when I checked the voltage (by checking the voltage at the battery posts) while the truck was running , it was not the requite 13+ and still at 12.25 volts (was 12.52 before start). Where do I check next? Also how long should the truck be running before the alternator checks good. Also the batteries were fully charged gain before I did the alternator swap.

In the alternator there is a big wire and then a couple more smaller wires. How do I test? Any precaution needed. Even after 1 minute running the truck the alternator felt slightly warm already.

Thanks

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I did a search and they said with the engine off, there should be voltage on the large post on the the large wire going to the alternator and there is. The truck is cold though, so I am plugging it in and will try again.

I also checked #10 (it was a 20 amp mini) and $29 on the fuse box on the engine and they both tested for continuity. I found in the net that these were the fuses to check.

Where is/are the fusible links suppose to be?


Thanks

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Okay...

Now I am getting 14.4. I may not have ran the truck long enough> Heard there was a delay before the computer tells the alt to charge And the fuses I mentioned #0 and #29 have nothing to do with this duh.

I made have made a mistake as per the forums to buy and Autozone replacement but I am not in ABQ and they were the only ones that have it. I bought their new one, just in case. So I should really have gotten a Motorcraft right?

 

the fusable link is the big wire on the back of the alternator. the fuse part will be just have like a heat shrink kinda thing around it. bend it and see what it feels like and if it bends pretty easy then it's bad. bend another part of the cable to see what it should feel like

 

Thanks!. She is charging now but I have to be wary of the Autozone GOLD alternator. I actually have a cheap multimeter now in the truck, so that when I inspect my oil and fluid levels while filling up. I also check if my charging system is still working.