Electrical problems

I've been having a lot of battery problems lately, ever since I had the dash gauges installed. For a while, the battery would slowly lose power, even if the car wasn't being run. The battery light was still going off after acceleration, as it should. But, I had to keep charging the battery externally and bring a second one along just in case. Then, eventually, the battery light wouldn't go off anymore. I cleaned the battery connectors and reconnected the battery wires, but without any results. Then I wiggled some wires under the dash, and that solved the problem. I felt proud of myself for having "fixed" the problem, like a real amateur. Soon the battery light stayed on again. I tried the wiggling again, but this time it didn't work. Since I never really diagnosed the specific problem, I didn't know how to fix it this time.

One day I went to Terry's Automotive with the hope that they would just do a bit more of a professional "wiggle" of the wires and fix the situation. But, they felt that the wiring was so unorthodox to begin with, not following any schematics, and jerry-rigged by so many mechanics that they didn't think they would be able to fix it quickly. They recommended an electrical expert, Circle R Auto in town.

On the way to Terry's I had stalled on the road. I thought maybe I had let go of the clutch and didn't think that much of it. The day before I had gotten a new batch of biodiesel and I think its cleaning properties clogged the fuel filter, so I was now dealing with the fuel starvation problem again. This meant that the car could only drive for a mile or two, would stall and then the undercharged battery would have to start the engine again, as well as heat the glow plugs. This compounding of problems grew quickly, and I stalled out on the road about six times on the way home. I had a second battery in the truck box, fortunately. I learned that after the truck stalled, that it helped to wait about 5 minutes, and then it could restart and go for another mile. My son Bruno was with me, and he really didn't enjoy this experience. He hasn't been in the truck since. I never quite knew if we'd make it home or not, whether to call a tow truck, or keep on trucking. I broke down one last time in front of our gate, and then made it home.

I changed the fuel filter, filled up the filter and the lines with biodiesel and the fuel starvation was fixed. But, I still had the problem of the battery not charging. Two days ago, I finally had the time to bring it to Circle R Auto, where Roy said that the alternator was already partly damaged and the wiring was creating a permanent drain on the battery. The money damage shouldn't be too bad and I am looking forward to a more robust electrical system.