Alternator will not charge
Asked by fixitJack Jul 19, 2016 at 01:01 AM about the 1999 Ford F-250 Super Duty
Question type: Maintenance & Repair
Installed new alternator and battery still not charging had alt tested and is
good.The alt light never came on , tested for voltage to alt found a bad wire at
the starter relay repaired it ,still not charging.
8 Answers
I put a new alternator on my 2008 ford f 250 truck but the battery light on dashboard won’t turn off turn truck off and won’t turn back on not charging
I HAVE A 2003 F250 IT WON'T CHARG THE BATTERY AND THE GAUGES WILL NOT WORK AND I PUT A NEW ALTERNATOR
See Tennisshoes above. My problem - "2003 F250 alternator tested good in the shop but would not work when installed in truck" Saw Tennisshoes post above - looked at dash - no gauges working. Pulled the "Dummy Light wire out of the harness that hooks to alternator (there are 2 wires in a 3 wire plug connected to my alternator - One tested 12V the other had no voltage)- jumped the wire (the one with no voltage) to the positive feed on the back of alternator (the big cable held with a nut) - VIOLA - now it's charging and dash lights works. Obviously this is not a fix, but a check. Since my check worked, I started pulling ALL fuses to see which one was bad. FOUND IT - You would think it would be an instrument cluster fuse - NOT - it was an "Ignition/Run/Power" fuse - #45 on my truck. New fuse in and BINGO. Probably changed the alternator for nothing over a stupid fuse. Advice - check all fuses before changing alternator.
Same sue but have had the shifter end come apart, where OD is, no gauges, new battery not holding a charge either, looks like possible fire under the hood too over top the battery. Never had an issue until my battery was changed as far as starting & running, but I lost my dash gauges due to something tied into the trailer lights & fuse long before this. 2nd owner, inherited it. Also back light would not turn off, had to remove bulbs.
Harry_The_Cat answered 4 years ago
I've had the same problem, repeatedly with a 2003 F250 with 7.3 diesel, not an everyday driver, with (currently) only 122K miles on it. It ran fine, with just regular maintenance until last year. Here's the tale of woe: February 2019 -- Two new batteries from O'Reilly Auto Parts July 2019 -- Original alternator quit and I replaced it with a rebuilt one from O'Reilly. Ran about a week, then died again. June 2019 -- installed a brand new OEM alternator from Rock Auto. Drove it a few times (short errands), but it died again in June 2020. July 2020 -- Assumed there was something else going on, so I had it towed to the local Ford dealer. They replaced the alternator with another rebuilt one. It ran for about a week, then died again on the road. July 2020 -- Had it towed to the Ford dealer, they replaced it with another rebuilt alternator and said my 1 1/2-year-old batteries had a couple of dead cells and should be replaced. Drove it from the Ford dealer a few miles to Auto Zone and replaced both batteries. Made it about five miles and the alternator died on the road again. August 2020 -- Towed back to the Ford dealer once again (repair still under warranty). Service adviser said he checked with Ford and they had been supplying rebuilt alternators from a supplier in France, and they were unreliable. They replaced the alternator with another rebuilt one (not from France) and checked everything that could possibly be connected, and said there were no other problems. This one looks slightly different from the previous five alternators including the original. Not sure I believe the story about "France", but it has now gone around 300 miles without a problem. Fingers crossed. This seems to be a problem encountered by lots of folks with this engine, while others have 300K+ miles on theirs without a problem. Has anyone figured this out?
Guru9DNL9M answered 4 years ago
I have a 2004 F250 Super Duty 4 by 4 with a 5.4 L motor my alternator died 110 amp and bought a remanufactured alternator 250 amp but the wires are different? The rebuilt has a D plug but not a small wire after the D plug that connects to the alternator? they told me I don't need to connect this small wire I can just wrap it with electrical tape because it's not necessary for the new alternators they said? They said the rebuild doesn't need the smaller plug to be connected to the alternator? is this true? and it also has a thicker brass connection on the rebuilt with Bolt how do I get from the smaller connection onto the larger connection on new rebuilt alternator? it goes from the smaller old one to a larger rebuilt one? Photos will show.
Mainecap76 answered 3 years ago
I have a 2004 Ford F-250 60 And put new alternator in new batteries and it still not charging anybody know what it could be