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Old 09-07-2020, 11:06 PM   #11
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Battery light is on but alternator is charging

Got it installed, and the battery light didn’t come on without that secondary wire hooked up, so looks like it’s good to go, voltage at idle was 13.8-14.2. But.....essentially had to make my own cables out of the wiring kit they sent, not sure what they were cut for?
Assuming you ordered the cable kit? Anyway, I was a bit confused and thought at first I was supposed to be replacing the existing wiring from the alt to the distribution box, but per instructions it says to hook up both. I went direct to battery under hood with the new cable, and I hooked up the old wiring that goes to the distribution box from the alternator as well, I hope that’s correct, going to give Ed a call to confirm.
I used the long cable they sent as the positive lead and because there is no room on the passenger side for the fuse, I looped it along the back of the engine bay through the loom and around to the drivers side fender, cut it and put some terminal lugs on and installed the inline bus fuse there, then came around with the other half of the cable to the front and ran it under the radiator supports along the top of the radiator back to the positive battery terminal. I used the shorter red cable they sent as a ground to the chassis.

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Old 09-08-2020, 08:21 AM   #12
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Originally Posted by REF View Post
Got it installed, and the battery light didn’t come on without that secondary wire hooked up, so looks like it’s good to go, voltage at idle was 13.8-14.2. But.....essentially had to make my own cables out of the wiring kit they sent, not sure what they were cut for?
Assuming you ordered the cable kit? Anyway, I was a bit confused and thought at first I was supposed to be replacing the existing wiring from the alt to the distribution box, but per instructions it says to hook up both. I went direct to battery under hood with the new cable, and I hooked up the old wiring that goes to the distribution box from the alternator as well, I hope that’s correct, going to give Ed a call to confirm.
I used the long cable they sent as the positive lead and because there is no room on the passenger side for the fuse, I looped it along the back of the engine bay through the loom and around to the drivers side fender, cut it and put some terminal lugs on and installed the inline bus fuse there, then came around with the other half of the cable to the front and ran it under the radiator supports along the top of the radiator back to the positive battery terminal. I used the shorter red cable they sent as a ground to the chassis.

Glad to hear it is working. I'm taking it on Thursday right before I leave. I hate the rush of it but cannot in good conciseness head off into remote Idaho without this behind me. It sounds like a pretty involved job. I have a pile of large cables and the hammer crimper sitting in a box from my complete redo. Fingers crossed the alternator comes early Thursday.
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Old 09-10-2020, 01:49 PM   #13
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This what came out. I plan on sending it back for repair. The leese unit is huge. Hoping for the best.
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Old 09-13-2020, 11:42 AM   #14
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Not necessarily a bad diode within the rectifier plate. I assume that 270 amp alternator is a Leece-Neville ( or perhaps another aftermarket) and the way the regulator handles the alternator warning light may be different from OEM. I suspect if you drop by a competent alternator/starter shop, they can sort it out. Depending on the vehicle, the computer may be turning the warning light on even though charging voltage is within the range of typical charging voltage.
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Old 09-13-2020, 05:18 PM   #15
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I had ordered the same 270A alternator from Ed at FICM and the additional battery cables. When I looked at the cables sent I could see how some would work but not all. After calling them and explaining my situation I was informed that the vans have a great number of configurations and they really don't know what length cable you will need. One look at the frame rail on our vans should prove that, they look like Swiss cheese with all the holes for options and such. Anyway, Ed had me measure exactly how long a cable I needed to go from the battery to the alternator and we got it all worked out. Just keep this in mind, you may need to tell them exactly what you need as there are apparently many different variation on these vans as it relates to battery cables.
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Old 09-13-2020, 07:12 PM   #16
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Attachment 35597
This what came out. I plan on sending it back for repair. The leese unit is huge. Hoping for the best.
Were there any wires connected to the back of that alternator when you removed it?

I just had the same alternator (I think) installed, and my Lead Acid batteries boiled over after the 1st good drive. Ed thinks my alternator might not have been installed correctly by my mechanic.
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Old 09-14-2020, 11:05 AM   #17
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I have a trip coming up next week and of course my battery light just came on. Scanguage shows 14v charging so not sure what is causing it. I have a new 270amp alternator and 2 brand new odyssey batteries. Since I'm heading to lolo pass and magruder corridor I don't want to go off grid knowing I could have a stranding issue. Anyone know what would cause the charging light while voltage looks fine?
FWIW, we drove the Magruder mid August, had a very nice time, I did a quick write up here:
https://www.sportsmobileforum.com/fo...tml#post281566
... we did air down for 3 days and was a much better ride.



Not sure it will give you much of a break from the smoke but you should enjoy the trip.

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Old 09-14-2020, 12:41 PM   #18
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Quote:
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I just had the same alternator (I think) installed, and my Lead Acid batteries boiled over after the 1st good drive. Ed thinks my alternator might not have been installed correctly by my mechanic.
This is exactly what I have been concerned about
https://www.sportsmobileforum.com/fo...ors-26962.html

When the water is boiled out of a lead acid battery, it's normally due to over charging. I'm not sure how the alternator could be hooked up incorrectly, but I'll be VERY interested in hearing how this is worked out, please follow up.
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Old 09-14-2020, 01:20 PM   #19
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This thread and a few others that are similar lately may be assisted by taking a look at the Ford shop manual. I've been using forum members Geoffff's online copy found on his Octopup blog link "ford E Series - Workshop Manual" Sportsmobile & Ford E-Series Van Manuals.

If the manual is downloaded as a .pdf, which I recommend for easy navigation, the charging info starts on page 3185 of the viewer or page 414-00-1 of the manual. I didn't read all of it so I'm not sure if answers to all questions can be found. Just wanted to put out another possible reference point.

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Old 09-14-2020, 05:28 PM   #20
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This is exactly what I have been concerned about
https://www.sportsmobileforum.com/fo...ors-26962.html

When the water is boiled out of a lead acid battery, it's normally due to over charging. I'm not sure how the alternator could be hooked up incorrectly, but I'll be VERY interested in hearing how this is worked out, please follow up.
I will update here and/or on your thread once I get this figured out. I spoke w/ Scott at FICMRepair this afternoon, if the alternator was installed correctly (WITH the factory voltage sense wire in addition to the upgraded alternator cable I added), Scott thinks I have a bad battery cell, bad grounds, or a factory sense wire that is starting to fail.

I half suspected that my batteries were going bad when I took it to the mechanic as they don't seem to hold voltage as well as in the past. My mechanic found that the factory alternator was going bad and that was all that I replaced. I'm looking at replacing both batteries and possibly redoing the factory cabling. It could be a couple of weeks before I move forward, but I will follow up once this is resolved.
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