car not charging

[kit352]

i just got my car the other day now im having issues. its got a new alt and battery and everything was fine. today the battery light comes on so i go back home and check it out. volt meter says not charging. looking closer i see that i have a blown 30amp alt fuse in the front power block. try to replace and it blows again. all wires look good but the fuse keeps blowing. i need to fix this in the next few days. im at my wits end. i was gonna pull the alt for the **** of it but im not so sure thats the issue. please help.

 

[mattfoo83]

disconnect the wires on the alt, mainly the red battery cable. plug the fuse in. if it still blows you will have to trace the wires to see if you can find the shorted wire. dont just bypass the fuse, its there for a reason and that will cause more things to fail and maybe a fire. take your time and trace the wires after the fuse

 

[kit352]

if i disconnect the wires at the megablock i can safely put the battery ones back on and supply power to it. its when i touch the alt one to the other wire/plate on the alt side is when it blows. i can also put the alt wire on the magafuse and be fine (cause it has no power) but as soon as i touch power to the battery cable the fuse blows. im gonna work on it some more today but im not 100% sure of what im doing. im not even sure the mega fuse is good and dont know how to check or even replace.

 

[SHOZ123]

Sounds like the alternator is shorting out. Or the smaller wire that goes to the alternator is shorted out against the body somewhere.

 

[kit352]

playing with it allday today resulted in a finding. in a fit or not knowing what else to do i unbolted the starter ground and re bolted it up. light went away but came back a few miles later. shut car down and replaced fuse and car ran fine for a few feet this time. replaced again and its been fine for a few miles again but i stopped driving it. i think tomorrow im gonna through the bat. in the back and hope that takes car of all my issues. either way im gonna rebuild the bat. to megafuse block wiring tomorrow at the least. i need to find someone with an sho so i can copy their wiring routing and setup for the trunk mount to save as much time as possible. ive seen the write ups, including yours, but im not 100% on what to do and what to use to do it. id like to by pass the megafuse and do something a little cleaner but im not sure if thats safe or even feasible. thanks for your help, im sure youll see my car soon. welding cams are the very next thing on the list.

 

[SHOZ123]

The MEGA fuse is there to protect only the alternator output wire. Nothing else should run through it.

 

[kit352]

replaced all wires from battery. im back to square one. blows fuses instantly. cars probably going back if i cant figure it out today. same thing happens. when power is supplied to power box any wire that touchs the metal plate that goes to the 30 amp alt causes the fuse to blow. doesnt matter if its a screw driver touching it or the real alt wire.

 

[SHOZ123]

Sounds like the alternator is shorting out.

 

[kit352]

you right so far. the main ground was badly melted going to the starter ground. i replaced that and the problem remained. after pulling the alt and most of the wiring this morning the main harness running over the front valve cover is hurting. the orange/blue wire from the alt to the power block was badly ruined. ive run a jumper from the alt to the power block and all seems fine with the charging system. im now figuring on the best course of action. im probably gonna run a new wire from the alt to the block following the main alt wire for now to see if it s the issue. then it looks like ill be into replacing the whole main harness or rerouting it somehow and repairing the damaged wires. either way im screwed but im closer to fixing the car. ive kept the bat up front for now so im over complicating anything but i do have all supplies i need to do it. i made the new ground system adaptable enough to be able to convert into trunk mount use any time.