Alternator problem

[zimstroke22]

I have been having what I thought was alternator & battery issues

I have found that the belt tensioner spring was snapped completely off and the tensioner was sprung

It had a lot of tension which kept me from checking it in the first place

I swapped in a new tensioner and the old belt is so loose that I can put it on without the using the tensioner

Has anyone ran across a tensioner with a broken spring and this can cause the batteries to go dead?

Seems like the belt would have been tight and the alternator should charge the batteries

Batteries are 2 weeks old and the alternator is brand new and checked twice

Anyone know how to remove a radiator pet-**** that broke off in the radiator - No head to grip

[Copyman]

When you put on the tensioner you said the old belt was so loose the you didn't have to use the tensioner? If the belt is not tight the alt will not charge. Was the tensioner that you put on the right one and are you sure that you have your belt routed properly??

[zimstroke22]

Routing by the diagram on the front of the truck

The tensioner was sprung wide open, I don't know for how long the problem started about 6 weeks ago

I don't know if the belt would stretch that much with a new tensioner

Old tensioner and new tensioner are identical

[Copyman]

are the belt and tensioner both new?When you have had it checked was it on the truck or off?

[zimstroke22]

No I was trying to install the old belt on the new pulleys to get it over to a warm garage

The old belt was loose, I look at the belt route on the front of the truck

The truck is outside and its a little dark and cold this time of year

[silverF250]

Take your radiator to a radiator shop they should be aable to fix it if not they should be able to take that tank off and put on a different one. Some can build a radiator for you and charge a 1/3 of new.

[Copyman]

The old tensioner could have stretched your belt out enough for it to be lose. When you get a new one on it take it to auto parts house and have them run a free check on your charging system to make sure everything is working ok. On the Radiator same as above just precheck price of one from parts house first. The radiator shops around here want within 25 buck of what a new one can be bought for mine for my 97 E-350 is only 211.00

[zimstroke22]

I put the new belt on and all things seem to be working again

I have a new 203 Thermostat and billet thermostat housing and dual alt upper radiator hose, but I had to hold off when my hands started to burn from the single digit temps

Nothing like routing a belt in the snow and cold

I took it out for an hour last night and it fired right up this morning, below zero here

Thanks for the help guys

[zimstroke22]

The truck is down again

the alternator is either not recharging the batteries or there is something draining my batteries

These problems started the moment that I put a new GPR on my truck

The day that I put on the GPR and started the truck there was a buzzing sound from the starter selonoid as I waited for the WTS light

The batteries ran the truck great for the day and a half that they last without any recharging, alternator failed

The odd thing about this was that I could see the batteries losing power on the trucks amp meter and when I would accelerate the amp meter would rise



On 12/7/07 I installed the DB 200 amp alternator that just returned from the manufacturer, new idler and tensioner pulleys and a brand new belt

I thought (was hoping) that this would be the end of the charging/battery problem

I drove the truck on Friday night for an hour to make sure the batteries charged, I started and moved the truck around Saturday letting it idle, I ran the truck 30 miles that evening and when I arrived at my destination I noticed that the amp meter was slowly going lower. I let the truck idle in the drive for 45 minutes and upon my return the amp meter was laying flat at the 8 amp and the ABS light and battery light were on. I thought I could make it home as the amp meter would raise back up under acceleration. The amp meter never moved and I made it 6 miles.

Could I have a GPR that isn't turning off or one that's draining my battery?

Please I would appreciate all the help I can get, this truck is useless to me in this state

Thanks,
Ryan

[Copyman]

If you have a test light you can tell fairly quick if the gpr is working properly test to see if you have power to larger post. do you have dual gpr or just one? shouldn't have power except to post going to bat. Are you sure you put all the wires back in the right place when you replaced the gprs?