Battery drains when running

[$$$$robert]

I put a new battery, starter, alt, reg, battery and starter cable, solenoid, starter swicth in the last 2 months. I had an electrical short and got that fixed. I adjusted points, and started the engine and set the idle and set the dimming. I turned the fuel mixture screws all the way in and back out 1 1/2 turns and then an additional 1/2 turn. Was running pretty then. After 10 minutes, I shut it off and tried to restart. The battery was so low it only turned very slowly and stopped. I took the neg cable off and got a test light to see if there was another short in the wiring and the light did not come on. I hooked the battery up to a charger and it registered as needing charged. The needle was on the 15 amp mark on the charger. Any suggestions? Thanks, Robert

[FORDification]

I think I'd suspect that alternator right now, but you'll have to hook up a meter to the back side while it's running to check it's output. Read the following page for some tips on troubleshooting charging problems:

http://www.fordification.com/charging.htm

[$$$$robert]

Can anyone send me a picture of where the wires go on the back of the alt. f20 camper special, 390 2bl, 72 model. I have some post on the back of mine and the read STA, DAR, GRD, FLD. one with nothing on it at all. I have 2 wires comming from my wiring harness, a ground in a rubber block and another with a plastic cap on it. the other wire comes from the harness by itself and has a circle on the end to fit over bolt and held with a nut. I tried to start the truck after charging the battery again and it turned real slow. The starter and starter wire were hot and the neg battery wire was hot and both positive post on the silenoid were hot. The positive battery cable was a little warm, it is larger size cable. The battery was drained again. Thanks again for any help.

[QC]

Your battery may have not been fully recharged.
Make sure that you have a ground wire from the engine block to the body. The negative cable doesn't usually get hot.

[$$$$robert]

I also put a new ground wire from the block to the firewall. The battery charger says it is fully charged. My voltage meter shows 12 volts.

[flyboy2610]

Is that while running or while turned off? While running you should get a reading of 13-14 volts.

[fordman]

it sounds like you have the wires mixed up on the back of the alternator. the hot is the one that should have the protective rubber on it not the ground.

[bluef250]

The battery should read 13.2 volts fully charged, the alternator should supply 13.8 volts if everything is working and connected correctly. If not then you need to find out why. Check the wiring diagram and make sure the terminals are connected properly. http://www.fordification.com/images/sch ... gauges.jpg