electrical

[lynchfourtwenty]

so ya we've been over this a dozen times, basicly nothings changed.. i need to get my truck running again because im losing interest in it fast, i have been drivin my se-r alot now an i wanna put money into it but i dont want to sell my truck but thats the only way im going to get quick cash, if i could just drive the sucker once in a while it would be different but for the past few months its a big ass paper weight and the manager of my apartments says "its in the way" So if i get it fixed it wont be in the way any more cause i can move it all the time and drive it.

 

basicly somethings killing batterys, i have a new alt which im sure is fine its been checked twice, also a new voltage regulator, however i may have some bad battery wires... u know the big ones that go from battery to starter and block.. but my charge light is on.. which maybe because the wire that goes to the alt thats white with red stripe is kinda messed up at the tip.. anyway if someone in the local area with the right tools would possibly be willing to lend a brother a hand an help me fix my truck i might not be so tempted to let it go.. cause i really dont want to :(

 

thanks, josh

[moparvwfreak]

if ya were closer i would come down ang give ya a hand. i cant remember. is htere a fuse for the alt system? i know some old toyotas had that but i dont know if datsuns had em. if so check the fuse. my old 'rolla did that and it pissed me off. then i figured out the fuse was bad. i can start looking in my books and see what i can come up with.

[lynchfourtwenty]

pretty sure it has no fuses for that, its a 77 620 so ya know what to look for, i had auto zone check it out (i didnt buy the alt or volt regulator there) an they said everything checks out, its chargin at 14 bla bla and theres no draws, but something has to be messed up somewhere or else it wouldnt kill batterys.. maybe i should put my se-r battery in.. try to fix that white an red wire an see if the charge light goes off, and if so maybe drive around the block a few times with the head lights on and have someone follow me, well ofcourse after i get plates an tags for it, but maybe its been fixed for a while an i just didnt know it?? cause the charge light wasnt on before i messed the wire up.. an i havent drivn it since cause i was paranoid of gettin stranded... but one time i did put another cars battery in an had it runnin with highbeams on an stereo an it didnt die.. but it was just sittin there idling for like 20 mins

 

i guess i jus need to get tags fix that wire clean the battery cables an give her another try!

 

but i still have a feelin somethings wrong, if ya know what i mean

[yello620]

So you know of certain things that are certainly needing attention like the battery cables? :confused:

And you havent taken care of those items first?

 

 

I havent been to vancouver in quite a while now, but it sounds as if the first person that shows up to help just might tell you that you need to take care of those item first. At least get the parts there ready to be installed when someone shows up so you can actually work on the truck. And not have to beg for help again after you get parts.

 

Couple of battery cables, positive cable with the extra lead for your charge wire that is messed up. Negative cable. Just measure them for lenght and call Chris at bartosh.

 

Have a test light handy also, maybe even a multi-meter.

 

I am just a little too far away to lend a good hand. Have you done a battery drain test? disconnect negative battery cable and install test light between cable and battery post. Is the light lit up? Bright or dim? Pull the fuses for your stereo. Is the light still lit up? one by one pull the fuses in the panel. Has the light gone out yet? No? Now pull the connector off the back of your ignition switch. Lubed my sticky key with the wrong stuff once and it shorted it out inside the switch, took me forever to find this one.

 

Spend an hour messing with it and give us an update.

 

Jason

[lynchfourtwenty]

10 4 buddy sounds good, i'll do some pricing on those cables.. i dont have a multimeter and i think i lost my test light :( im so broke it isnt even funny.. also the guy at autozone took off the negitive cable and did that with his little device.. prolly a multi meter, and said there wasnt any draws.. if i remember correctly the light was not on.. as for the ignition switch, funny thing is i replaced that not too long ago, everything worked fine like before.. and the problem didnt show up until 3-4 months after that.. but since i had to work on the wiring harness in the past i had to change a few wires around so that may have something to do with it.. but idk cause everything seemed to work fine..

 

thanks again

[moparvwfreak]

well what i would do is take teh battery adn charge it for a couple days on a 2 amp charge. i had to do that with my ram and it solved ALOT of problems. 3 days on teh charge in my case. check the whitered wire and see what happens as well as changing the bat leads. if all else fails check the ground for the cluster. owning VWs does come in handy as they are notorious for bad grounds. i will look through my books, i have one for a 78 and i dont htink the wiring changed that much. also a faulty switch could have an adverse effect on the battery. maybe a shorting iggy switch keeping somthing on when its not supposed to be. not enough to actually make iot work but enough to draw power? just an idea.

[lynchfourtwenty]

i've tried 2 batterys so far that worked perfect in other vehicles, and something i forgot to mention which is prolly critical... when i disconnect the battery either -/+ the truck dies instantly

[motavated]

Ok i will tell you what i did.... My ground has a f'n charge!.... I dont know why but it does. SO I just got some wire and grounded the grounds from the alt and starter to metal... It has not let me down yet.... That and my starter was no good and it keeped draining my bat.... try that out...

[lynchfourtwenty]

Ok i will tell you what i did.... My ground has a f'n charge!.... I dont know why but it does. SO I just got some wire and grounded the grounds from the alt and starter to metal... It has not let me down yet.... That and my starter was no good and it keeped draining my bat.... try that out...

 

how would i test for that?

[motavated]

I just checked if it was continuous.... So in other words my amp meter thingy would beep if i touched the ground and + together... Its not supposed to beep. My truck would not turn on at all! I disconnected that bad ground and my truck turned on... So I just cut some wire's i had laying around and grounded them.... No more dead battery....

[moparvwfreak]

run a multi-meter on the battery while its running. it should show it right off the bat. and there is no such thing as overkill on grounds.

[lynchfourtwenty]

as far as i can tell it runs with a good battery seemingly with no problem until the headlights are on which it drains, or maybe just drains faster.. also if i d/c one of the battery cables it dies right away..

 

well i guess i gotta get a multi meter then..

[Pacific coast Datsun]

If the truck dies when you disconnect the + or - battery cable then the alternator is bad.

[moparvwfreak]

as said if i was closer. you can get a good one cheap at Harbor freight. i have a nice Cen-Tech that i love using. as accurate as my freinds Fluke from what i have seen.

[lynchfourtwenty]

we have one of those stores i'll have to price them :) so should i jus try replacin the alt again?? i can.. its free.. life time warrenty!

[moparvwfreak]

yeah it sounds like its not putting out enough amps. and yes HF is a good place. should be about $20 for the multi meter or so. check their website for a decent price.

[banzai510(hainz)]

The truck will die if battrery cable is removed when lights are turned ON.

Should stay running with lights off.

 

 

a test light is 3-6 $

to ck if there is a drain put the test light inbetween the neg side battery and battery cable. If test light lights up theres a drain. Find short by removing a fuses till light goes out and thats the circut you need to trouble shoot.

 

Maybe alternator or reg is not chargin enough when there is a load and draining the battery. here is where a in car volt meter would catch this.

 

The guy at work would drive in in the day time but leave at night and battery be dead in morning. Lights were ON and draining the battery just enought to get home but not start.

 

This is less than a 100$

 

fix the lugs at the end(wht/red wire) and ck the T connector also in back of the alternator.

 

JeffHino(icehouse says there is something behind that dash that can short out that is common on the 620 but you have to PM him.

[lynchfourtwenty]

actually the truck dies once the battery is disconnected lights on or off

 

but i will be lookin into it as soon as i get some little tester things, i will use the battery from my car so i know its good, an i will pm jeff if all else fails..

thanks guys

[banzai510(hainz)]

Buy good battery cables with the molded ends.

 

On my 521 truck the neg side of bat is toward front of truck and the Neg side cable is hooked up just behine the fuel pump. That theaded hole thats mostly used to pull the motor. I mount the battery this way incase the bat moves fwd and shorts out underneath the hood(yes this has happen to me)

 

Schucks say 3 out of 5 alt/starters are bad from the box.

 

 

get a volt meter! or better yet go to Radio Shack and they have a DIODE /Volt meter checker. So you can tell its loading down or overvolting. about 6$

 

To me if truck dies with all accesiories OFF the alternator is not producing enough or a ground/wire is missing

 

Buy these tools and it will help you

[lynchfourtwenty]

that DIODE /Volt meter checker sounds handy i will pick one up, i could use it for all kinds of things.. seems like i always need one, i think i use the same hole for my ground also, an i will look into the molded end bat cables cause these other ones are junk

 

 

oh yea i'll replace the alt also ;)

[Cuts metal like mad]

the alt may not be kicking "on" (MAYBE) try revving the motor a little to spin the alt faster when you disconnect the battery... worth a try.

[lynchfourtwenty]

tried that, dont work :( loses spark an dies, im gonna replace the alt an cables and the end on the red an white wire an see what happens, also gonna get one of those Volt meter checker things or a multi meter or something

[ppeters914]

This really isn't rocket science. If the battery cables are bad, replace 'em. Positive to the starter, negative to ground (or to the block and there's another cable going to ground).

 

Which red/white wire? The little one running from the external voltage regulator goes to the idiot light, and is the sense wire. If it's munged up, fix it.

 

Take some pics, which will help us help you.

 

C'mon....there's gotta be someone in Vancouver town to help save a Datto from the mean ol' landlord. :fu:

[lynchfourtwenty]

tomorrow i get some cash i am going to try to replace the bat cables and trade the alt in for another, an get a little wire connector kit to fix up some loose ends like that white an red wire to the dummy light

[banzai510(hainz)]

the wht/red wire is the + output of alternator

this is for a 510 but shpuld be similar on a 620 and ck the grounds by the volt reg also(clean and tighten)

 

Napa can LOAD ck that alternator

 

wiring diagrams are here for the 620

http://www.olddat.com/