alright so this is my brothers truck and his alternator died on him so I installed a rebuilt one and he was good to go for a week or so, during that week he said his battery gauge stopped working completely and now his alternator isn't charging anymore. Alternator has 3yr warranty so I ripped it out and installed another and still no luck

I thought this was weird but on the alternator post has 3 wires attached to it, the 10 gauge or so red wire that goes to the battery and a green, black wire on the same post.... is this right for a 97? truck ran fine/properly for months hooked up like this and with the length of the green and black wires they can only mount to the post on the alternator or perhaps a ground?

 

https://www.google.com/search?q=97+g...w=1164&bih=845

 

The terminal on the rear of the alternator has 3 wires and it must show battery voltage at all times. The brown wire in the small connector on the side of the alternator case must show battery voltage with the ignition in the RUN position. Post your results.

 

that brown wire ended up having no power and on top of his battery gauge not working I guess his speedo stopped working as well..... gauge fuse was blown, replaced all seems good now but left him my truck in case it blows again

are the 95-97s slightly different then the newer models? my 99 and dads 05 only have the 1 wire on the alternator post
the greeen and black wire I mentioned before were actually fusable links so I left them alone

 

The larger wire on the back of the alternator comes from the battery, it is not fused. The smaller ones are fusible links that feed the power distribution bus bar.

96 and 97 are nearly identical. The voltage regulator is powered through the charge indicator circuit. On 98 and newer, the voltage regulator is controlled by the PCM.

 

my brothers has a fusable link right by the battery on that wire :s

looks like the truck has a short somewhere when he turns his lights on something starts buzzing then the gauges go out taking the alternator with it, guess this happened last time too... haven't had a chance to look at it yet but doesn't sound like it's going to be much fun lol

 

so the issue's back, was fine for a few months after a new gauge fuse....

Alternator is toast again, gauge fuse is NOT blown but the brown wire at the alternator isn't live with the key forward. Took the battery/tray out and cleaned up all the grounds, new alternator in and gauge fuse good but still nothing??

I spliced into the brown wire at the alternator with a wire directly from the battery and the alternator will work properly(14.5+ volts) but battery gauge reads nothing, battery light on the dash is on and a stupid noise on the inside(the noise it makes with truck off, keys in ignition and door open)

any help is greatly appreciated!

 

97 is known to have issues with the ignition switch. the switch is unique to 97's and it's fairly common for them to fail. There are several circuits that are switched when you turn it to each position. The noise in the dash, and the dash gauge not working, may also be related to the switch.

 

These are the contacts in the ignition switch of a 97.



The one on the left had enough carbon build up to cause my truck to shut off/on while driving.

 

thanks guys, looked up the ignition switch and saw some youtube videos with some similar issues
My brothers truck still starts though but who knows for how long lol Now I tried that youtube videos test light trick and I do have power at the switch but even when I jump the pink power wire to the red wire my dash/warning lights don't light up but fuel pump primes when I jump the wire

burned did you just take your switch apart and clean it? and you guys think it could have anything to do with the gauge cluster(found 96 parts truck) or should I just go ahead and get a ignition switch?