Brand new battery two nights ago. Put volt meter on alternator and it read 14.6 volts. Pulled into work today and the 3 amigos and tranny lights all came on as I was parking. Turned it off and tried to restart but no juice.

One point of interest. When I put the head gasket job back together last weekend, the power cable that comes from battery positive to alternator shorted on the block for a brief second. Could it have blown a fuse somewhere? What's weird is the alternator is putting out what it should. Drove it 20 minutes to work and it killed it when I pulled in?

Stranded at work

 

can you jump it?

 

i would check all the fuses in the box and also double check the connections are tight on the battery as well as the grounds. you are having voltage output issues from the battery. You checked the new battery voltage im sure?

 

I can jump it but it goes into limp mode instantly

 

There is a 150 amp fuselink between the battery and the alternator. It is inside the underhood fuse box, FL #1, looks "different" from a small fuse, it "bolts" in. Shorting alternator cable to block would have arced, blown this fuse link, and ever since then you have no charge to battery. Alternator reads a little higher than normal because you have no load on it. As a work around you can use a jumper cable from big hot wire bolt on alternator to (+) wire on battery, battery will get charged up maybe enough to drive to parts store to buy fuse link. I think it is the large silver one in the front with two small bolts that screw it down in the pix.

Note - wrapping blown link in tin foil, chewing gum foil, chewing tobacco foil - not enough metal for a bypass. A stout piece of wire could be used, bigger is better. If you go this route, just run engine only, no AC, fan, radio, wipers, lights, etc. Truck needs about 30 amps to run fuel pump, ECU, etc. and put minimal charge on battery. Do not want a fire hazard to put all your hard work up in smoke.

You put on the brakes arriving at the salt mine, increasing the load. Another few minutes and it would have done the same on the highway. Battery light might not be on because it is driven by alternator voltage.

 

Thanks savannah buzz that appears to have been the ticket! Thanks again

 

Savannah, you are the f##kin' man.

 

Where did the PDF file with color pics come from?

 

The RAVE, electrical guide, connector pages. Look up a connector in the circuits diagram, find the connector number, then look that up in the guide. The pictures are from a special Rover that is kept in jar, never has an oil leak, not a smudge on it. It just a'int natural. Like this one of a starter and knock sensor.