electrical problem - please help

No in-line fuses.

Your meter is very sensitive and is reading just some tiny leakage current. The meter is putting a red-herring on the trail...

When you shorted out the connection at the alternator, that surge of current broke/burned "something" in the battery loop. Could be the battery pos cable clamp, neg cable clamp, or even inside the cable ends.

You could make some tests using a 12V test lamp (won't give you phoney readings like the meter) or just go over the battery cables and wiggle/inspect till you find something.

Don't rule out the battery either; wouldn't be the first time one failed internally.

The one thing I *don't* think it is, is the ground strap on the tranny; that wouldn't affect things like the lights at all.

I think you'll discover it's something simple and there was no major damage.

Speedy Jim

I think you have a simple loose connection, probably on the battery posts. Pull them & clean them, & if you have aftermarket ends pull them apart & clean them too. If that dosen't work, check the other major wiring connections. HTH, ~ Paul aka "Tha Driver"

Giggle Cream - it makes dessert *funny*!

.... could be the charging relais or the generator/alternator

Try to disconnect the generator and see if the shortage is gone Try to disconnect the relais ........

Bye Michael

i sure hope you're right, but more importantly i hope i DISCOVER the problem soon. i need this vehicle to get me up the hill to high country bus festival next week.

thanks for your input!

and of course, you were correct. :)

wow, the wiring could definitely stand to be replaced; i guess that's not so surprising given a 29 year old bus ...

per everybody else's direction (and common sense after thinking long and hard about separate circuits being hosed at the same time) i centered on the battery itself and its primary connections.

while the battery was out, i removed the grounding strap. i took the drill-powered wire brush to the ground strap connection point and to the bolt/washer. i replaced the grounding strap with a new one and torqued it down nice and tight.

i had a scare when i got continuity between the positive wire and ground; when i realized 2k ohms looked more like a rating than an accidental ground, i figured it must've been the diodes in the alternator i was seeing. so i reversed the vom connections and got an open. whew.

i brushed the battery terminals and the positive wire connection (though it was originally tight, it was dirty - could've been the culprit) and reconnected everything. i crossed my fingers and my toes, and hit the lights. i got courtesy lights. i threw the switch and the bus started right up.

perhaps once i've camped a bit and feel like taking a break i'll think about rewiring the whole shebang. it's pretty ugly as it is, and i'm thankful it works at all.

thanks for all your help; while i have been schooled on bee, the automotive applications have always thrown me. i'm much more comfortable with a wrench at this point.

hcbf, here i come!

Thank you Dewey for posting your findings on the newsgroup..... it helps everybody, especially including me, understand the strange malfunctions of these older vehicles.

Mac (hopefully to have a 1969 Bus on the road in the next few months among other projects)

Don't see where you also refurbed the transmission to body ground strap attachment surfaces... This is where I was having my trouble... easy to forget about that one! Probably wouldn't hurt to crawl under and and also do this one. Will make things that much better.

i didn't check that at all, since earlier in the thread this was somewhat discounted. plus, i just started with the easiest stuff first; i had the battery out to have it tested, and while it was out replacing the negative cable was really simple. i will, however, take a look at the tranny strap today and probably hit it with the wire brush as well.

one question, though ... when i do something like that, how do i prevent rust? if i brush the metal so that it makes good contact, the metal is open to the elements and would seem likely to rust. should i paint over it after making the connection?

wow, here i am freaking out about my own lack of knowledge and am unknowingly helping out other poor blokes. funny how the world works.

fwiw, you're welcomed. :D

For checking timing with the strobe, you should hook it's power cables either directly to the battery, or to the positive and negative sides of the coil. Don't connect to the alternator, as that voltage varies with engine speed. That's why the charging system needs a regulator.

~Anthony

good point, thanks. will certainly keep that in mind.

Please don't think I'm being picky, but on an Alternator the B+ terminal (output) *is* battery voltage; B+ is connected directly to the battery.

As Dewey found out though, it's a risky place to make a connection since there is nothing between your alligator clip and full battery current:-(

Speedy Jim

Smear everything with grease before you reassemble it.

----------------------------------------------- Jim Adney snipped-for-privacy@vwtype3.org Madison, WI 53711 USA

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Err... before??? surely not on the contact surfaces! Best to re-attach, then maybe spray some aerosol undercoat or do nothing at all. I chose the latter.

Do'h! Also a good point. Thanks Jim.

~Anthony

Yes, before. When you bolt everything back together the grease will squish out of the way and still let everything that was going to make electrical contact touch, but the grease fills all the voids that would otherwise fill with air now and with water the next time you drive in the rain.

So the grease just keeps the air and water out, which makes for much less future corrosion and continued good electrical contact.

----------------------------------------------- Jim Adney snipped-for-privacy@vwtype3.org Madison, WI 53711 USA

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