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Help a Brother Out #2

Remove the cables from the posts. If they are still side terminal cables, I like to carve away some of the insulator from right around the lug hole, make sure no plastic is getting sandwiched between the cable terminal and the posts or between the terminals and that spacer lug.
Soak cables ends in a solution of baking soda and water and when it is done fizzing and boiling then dry the ends thoroughly. If there is still any crap left on the terminals or the spacer lug then scrape them so that they are clean.
Shine up that spacer lug and cable terminals, including the terminal at the starter lug and the grounding terminals where they hook to the engine, frame or body.
An aerosol can of corrosion preventive is always nice to spray down the terminals and battery lugs with before assembling them. I prefer this over grease or dielectric compound as it will soak into areas unseen.
Put it all back together and then see what happens.
 
EWC said:
There's a difference in terms of no start or no cranking . If the engine does not turn over , PMD is not even into play . Electrical current/voltage travels around the circumference of the individual strands of the starter/battery cables . Corrosion is a big deal and if that is present anywhere on/in the cable , that is a blockage for electrical flow . A voltage drop will let you know what the starter is seeing for electrical power . Marty must have been typing as I was . Sucks to be old and not able to sleep .
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Seems that I sleep a lot during the day. Just the way itiz with anretired old phart. 🐈💨 😹😹😹
 
Wow. I must be older than I thought I was..y'all are describing my life... It takes me an hour to convince myself that getting up from my chair to go take a piss is worth the effort. ..2hours if unsolved mystery shows are on..
 
But seriously, back to the subject at hand. That round lead spacer that goes between the two Positive cable lugs that connect to the Passenger side battery side post Positive terminal can, and does, cause all sorts of electrical issues. The terminal bolt can be tightened until it bottoms out and the two lug ends won't be making good contact with each other, the Positive post or the bolt if that lead spacer is squashed out flat. It will cause all sorts of issues, like running/starting off of only one battery or the other, wild swings or constant fluctuations of the voltage gauge needle, or overcharging one battery while not charging the other.


It's a really poor design by GM's engineers to accomodate two side post batteries. I solved the issue by using a Group 78 Dual Post battery on the passenger side with a Marine Terminal on the Positive post and the Driver's Side Positive cable bolted to it and the Positive cable to the starter bolted to the Side Post Positive terminal.
 
Husker6.5 said:
But seriously, back to the subject at hand. That round lead spacer that goes between the two Positive cable lugs that connect to the Passenger side battery side post Positive terminal can, and does, cause all sorts of electrical issues. The terminal bolt can be tightened until it bottoms out and the two lug ends won't be making good contact with each other, the Positive post or the bolt if that lead spacer is squashed out flat. It will cause all sorts of issues, like running/starting off of only one battery or the other, wild swings or constant fluctuations of the voltage gauge needle, or overcharging one battery while not charging the other.


It's a really poor design by GM's engineers to accomodate two side post batteries. I solved the issue by using a Group 78 Dual Post battery on the passenger side with a Marine Terminal on the Positive post and the Driver's Side Positive cable bolted to it and the Positive cable to the starter bolted to the Side Post Positive terminal.
Click to expand...
I can't recall having issues with the side posts after using stainless 1-1/4" Allen screws for the battery bolt mod.
Upgraded battery cables have never been a bad idea on 6.5's.
Upgraded wiring anywhere on most vehicles is not a bad idea.
Most vehicle wiring is of minimal size
 
Ok I'm finding a couple things wrong. First.. I went out and for shits and giggles turned the key.. and she started cranking..I didn't start it cause plugs were not warmed up.. before that I had moved a couple wires around on passenger side under the hood looking for anything obvious... So I think it may be a ground problem.. here's where I'm confused a little.. there's a wire that goes from one of the manifold lugs down the side of the engine and into a hole in the frame.
 

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It's on passenger side. And wgii pulled it down a little it's badly damaged. As in one side of it has the plastic worm of and some of the wire is frayed..it's a ground obviously so not hurting anything by touching anything but it could be effecting grounds somewhere because it's frayed so bad...
The next thing I noticed was that on the manifold lugs at very back that has all the grounds on it and the dipstick for tranny on it, there's 2 little wires that come out of the wire harness that goes across the fire wall . The are in one eyelet and grounded to the same manifold lugs. Well the eyelet is broke off and the wires are just hanging there . So I gotta fix that. I don't know what those wires go to so don't know if that could be part of the problem or not..
 

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Here's another thing.on passenger side.. there is a ground wire going from the battery to the front manifold lugs closest to battery. On the same lug is a short wire that goes from that lug to the very back one that has all the other stuff on it.. why doesn't the wire go straight from the battery to the back of lug instead of trying to jump the circuit or is that something that some idiot put on here at some point in time
 
Yes fix the ground wires that broke off the ringlet. That is a a critical spot for the engine running.
But in your first picture, the cable you are pointing at does not even have a lock washer or nut on it. Then it is covered in more grease/oil than wheel bearings have.

Clean all that up, and secure those wires. That big cable with no but is the reason it wouldn’t crank.
 
There was a nut on it..I took it off cause I was trying to trace it..it goes down into the frame. But not sure where it goes from there..I need to replace it because it's frayed but without knowing where it goes I can't determine how long of a piece I need..
 
So first off the first picture of the ground wire down to the frame was added by someone. Neither my 96 or 99 has that. The two wires into one eyelet from what you described are the computer grounds. It's recommended that you use the most rearward manifold bolt as opposed to the block off plate bolt because the manifold bolts are dry holes and won't corrode as easily. Those computer grounds are really important to have working right.
 
Looks like someone added grounds. there should be another ground on the drivers side that goes from the intake stud to the drivers side battery ground lug from factory iirc. the ground in your first pic someone added. it would have normally been a bare flat braided cable from the block to the frame that would only be seen with the inner fender removed. that ground might not exist anymore on yours and that cable is what they replaced it with.

with your alternator not charging, check for power on the post at the back of the alternator. also one of the two small wires will be hot with the ignition switch in the run position the other small wire is fed to the tach gauge for it to read rpm. one other thing is to check the positive cable lug at the starter and see what condition it's in as well as the battery connections. drivers positive post feeds to the relay box and to the passenger battery, then down to the starter. neg post on both the driver and passenger battery feeds to the body and to the block, then block to frame. at least that is what I remember without looking at my truck. the PCM grounds are on the rear passenger intake stud. should be three on a ringlet.
 
Thanks. I gotta get someone to come try to jump start me. Although we tried that yesterday and it didn't try to start any better than without them hooked up. I'm leaning towards thinking that the starter wore out... Like I said before for a couple of weeks maybe it was the truck was starting hard.. kind of like the starter wasn't getting enough juice or it was going bad.. it would crank over real slow but it would start. Battery gauge it was showing 13 yesterday but it still wouldn't turn over . I would think 13 would be enough to turn it over.. but it turned her really slow and then it just quit turning over at all... And like I said that was with the other diesel truck hooked to it.. had one of their batteries hooked to my battery, and their jumper box on my other battery.. and it still would not turn over
 
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