thrub

If I put an external regulator on my 93 will he alt guage still read properly?

wannadiesel

Yes.

If the trouble is your crank sensor then the A/C compressor and cruise will not work though...

carl48

before you change, run a new ground wire between the negative battery terminal and cab body

thrub

I did just put a new ground between the battery and the body.It was a couple of days after doing that the alt quit working. My alt guage was slowly dropping every time I drove the truck but my battery tester showed it was charging fine. I hooked up the external regulator and it worked fine for about a half hour then it started over charging. I put the charger on the battery when I got home to top it off, the battery was low. I don't have air conditioning of cruise working yet. Is there any way to test the crank position sensor as I would like to get the air and cruise working. I wired the external regulator so it could be changed back if need be.

wannadiesel

I don't know of a good test for the sensor itself other than trying another one.

The trouble is usually in the wiring though. Check the harness very carefully, and also check the gap between the sensor and the damper. It should be 0.050" - use a brass or plastic feeler (a folded matchbook cover is close enough).

fozzy

These poor old trucks

Mine too is giving trouble right now. A/C is working just fine, switched the two relays and no change.... going back out to the shop to check the sensor gap and check over all pertinent conectors.

thrub

I just was through the wiring. The harness that the crank sensor is in was the only one that I reused. I peeled all of the tape and covering off and checked all the wires out. I did use the crank sensor from the donor truck because mine didn't have a plug on it, wires were just shoved into the holes. I'll check the gap tonight and order a new senor tomorrow.

thrub

I think I just cooked my second external regulator. Both regulator charged fine for about an hour of driving then the first one quit and was over charging the second one isn't charging at all. They were mounted on the fire wall about where the gassers were mounted. Rechecked my wiring and all looks good. Any ideas?

wannadiesel

What kind of regulators are you using?

How is the main body ground by the battery?

thrub

The first regulator was a NAPA cheapo, it's what they stock at the local farm parts store. The second one was from my '84 gasser, also a cheat aftermarket. The relay is ground through the body like the gasser is and I have a 12 ga ground wire from battery to body. I was looking through some old posts last night and found one that said if the ASD relay isn't working then the alt won't charge. I dismantled the ASD relay and it was badly corroded. I replaced it and hooked up the stock harness And all looks good. I have 13.85 volts at the battery and 14.00 on the back of the alt. I'll haul some more bales later this afternoon and watch my alt guage.

thrub

Ran the truck a couple of hours this afternoon and all seems to be well. Sure wish I had searched this site more for the answer to my problem before I jumped to the conclusion that I needed an external regulator. Thanks to all that have posted. Still searching for answers to a few other elecrical problems. Like why I can't get my RWAL light to flash any codes and I would like to get my cruise working.