[psychotrshman]

Good evening all,
I have a 95 Chevy Silverado K1500 that I had planned on doing a frame off restoration to. It's been parked in the garage for two years and due to the economy I've put the restoration on hold and began driving it again. Since I started driving it three weeks ago I've replaced the battery because the old one failed to stay charged. Today when I got in it to go to work the battery light came on and the battery gauge says its only charged to just outside the orange, somewhere around 10. I took the alternator off and had it tested and it passed, all three times. After I put the alternator back on I noticed that in park the battery light is off and in reverse and drive its on. Regardless of the gear its in, the battery is still low. The truck starts and runs fine, but I'm concerned how long tuT wi laser. I'm at a complete loss as to what it could be, so any help is greaty appreciated. Also, I noticed a dark brown liquid under the air filter next to the header that smells like oil. It seemed out of place to me and my dad said that there shouldn't be oil under the air filter near the carburator. Any one have any thoughts where it could he company from or what it could be? Any information on either of the issues is greatly appreciated. Enjoy your evening everyone.

 

[stephan]

The brown liquid that's under the air cleaner I would guess is varnished fuel that has leaked for a long time. I've had a secondary throttle shaft leaking gas down on the manifold for about 6 months & it has left a nice brown puddle that is the consistancy of oil now.

On your charging problem, I would first check the battery cables. Disconnect them & look for any corrosion (probably good on the battery ends since you just replaced the battery) but do the same for the ground cable at the frame/engine grounds. They need to be clean, tight, & free of rust. You have to take them off & look for corrosion/rust at the mating surfaces, not just check them with a wrench to see if they're tight. If they're all good, check your alternator ground. This alternator checked ok 3 times, so logic would say this is a wiring problem in your truck, & most likely on the ground side because the grounds are most always neglected. Good luck

 

[psychotrshman]

If the brown liquid is varnished fuel, what would be the best way of finding the leak? Taking it apart looking for defects? If the battery ground wire is the problem, would that prevent the battery from charging all the way? The battery gauge is steady staying right about 10, so that makes me think it is charging, it just isn't charging all the way. When I replaced the battery about three weeks ago I checked all the battery terminals then and I coated them with Vaseline when I reconnected them to help prevent future corrosion from occurring. The positive battery cable going down to the starter has recently been replaced, so that one is clean as well.

 

[stephan]

The best way to find the leak is follow it up. Mine is directly above the puddle so it was easy. Not knowing where yours is, you will just have to look. Take a white paper towel & explore around the TBI above the puddle. Any discoloration on the towel is a good clue. I wouldn't start tearing it apart untill you're sure where it is leaking from. I'd also check it with it running, or with the fuel pump energized so you have maximum pressure.

On your charging problem: From your description I would suspect the voltage regulator, but the alt/v.r. have passed the bench test 3 times so I really think this is a wiring problem. Did you check your battery grounds at the frame/engine end of the cables?
Only other thought, did you have it tested all 3 times at the same place? If so, it's possible they could have faulty test equip. Maybe try having it tested somewhere else if all your grounds are good.

 

[psychotrshman]

I think I've found the problem. The battery line going to the computer/fuse box has what appears to be a cut that someone taped. Under the tape is corrosion and a bump on the wire about the size of a pea that I'm assuming is more corrosion. I'm going to switch this out tomorrow and hopefully it fixes the problem. Thank you for the help.

 

[stephan]

I'm glad you found something. The bump may be a solder joint, but I'm wondering why is it there? Did the preious owner/mechanic disconnect a wire that is suppose to be there, or did they add something extra? Do you see anything that looks like it doesn't belong in that area, or maybe something missing? Any unusually colored wires that don't match the factory colors?

 

[psychotrshman]

Its not clean cut all the way through, its more like a slice where they were working on something else and it got cut. I didn't have a chance to fix it before work this.morning and planned on doing it when I got off. This morning on the way to drop off my little one the the truck started losing power. The battery gauge is in the orange and when I give it gas its very sluggish and it doesn't want to go. I'm assuming this is because of the low battery, but the battery light isn't on anymore, instead the service engine light is on now. I'm on my way to buy that cable now and hopefully it'll run. I'll let you know if it works.

 

[psychotrshman]

I replaced the cable going from the battery to the fuse box and while doing that I noticed the wire connector connecting the battery charging wire and the wire from the alternator was melted. When it was connected there was copper wire exposed outside of the connector and that corroded. Not sure why it melted, but I went ahead and cut that out as well and reconnected it making sure that all copper was covered and painted it with liquid latex so that it couldn't get corroded again. The truck runs fine now and the battery keeps a full charge. Now to find the leak that's creating that pool under the air filter. Thanks again for the help.

 

[stephan]

EXCELLENT!! Always glad to hear when these things get fixed. Thanks for posting back. It most likely melted because of the high resistance caused by the corrosion. Good luck on the leak..