94 IDI GP relay short out issue.

[ISPKI]

Hey guys. Just when I got my fuel lines and seals done, my slug throws me another curve ball. I went to start the truck and it had zero power. Checked my brand new 975CCA batteries and they are stone dead, 0v reading. I have them trickle charging right now out of the truck. I took a look at the GP relay and found the throttle cable was laying across the terminals. I climbed up on the engine and found that it had indeed contacted the + input terminal to two other terminals, melting the wires and causing a bunch of damage. I attached some photos of the GP relay/controller out of the truck and of the large gauge wires. It looks like the ground wire and the wires that supply power to the GP harness are unharmed, but the + supply wire suffered some damage as well as the WTS light wire and the blue jumper wire. I did rewire this for a manual GP switch, hence why the wires look odd.

My question now is: should I replace the controller AND the relay? should I replace either? Or should I replace just the relay? From what I understand, the controller is just providing the ground for the system since I wired in the manual switch but the relay is still necessary for it to function. Also - The large red cable suffered some damage, should I go ahead and replace the entire length of wire or leave it as is and see if it will work? I have about 15ft of 1gauge cable that I could replace it with.

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[Agnem]

You shouldn't need to replace anything but the wiring. The batteries.... they may not charge properly off of a trickle charger. It may take a good 40 amps just to get them to pick up again. If you are to save them, they need a proper high amperage charge.

 

[icanfixall]

Just to add something to flat dead batteries.. Never try to use the alternator to recharge the batteries. The laternator is designed to refill the battery AFTER it has started the engine. Once the batteries are up to full capacity then the alternator runs all the electrical items on the truck or car. They are not a battery charger..

 

[ISPKI]

I have a century battery charger, does 6v, 2amp, 10amp, 50 amp. I always thought you should charge dead batteries slowly. Regardless, replaced the wiring, got a cover for the relay, got rained out today but definitely going to fire it up tomorrow.

 

[OLDBULL8]

I have a century battery charger, does 6v, 2amp, 10amp, 50 amp. I always thought you should charge dead batteries slowly. Regardless, replaced the wiring, got a cover for the relay, got rained out today but definitely going to fire it up tomorrow.

Those batteries will never begin to charge, especially with a trickle charger, not even with the 10 amp charge. The 50 amp is for starting a gasser, it will never start a Diesel. The thing to do is switch the charger to START, then switch to 50 amp, leave on there for 2-3 minutes, do this about 5 times, the overload breaker may kick out, remove the pos+ lead on battery, let charger cool off, repeat until you can switch to the 10 amps output and it will show it's charging, probably will show charging 15 amps. Keep a check on the charger so it don't become to hot. If the overload breaker keeps kicking out, go back to the 50 amp procedure a few times more.

 

[ISPKI]

Well I disconnected the batteries when I discovered they were drained. I had one charge overnight and is now at ~12.5v. The other was at about 8.5v before I went to work. My charger doesnt have a separate setting for start, the 50amp setting has "start" printed next to it, thats as high as it goes.

 

[madpogue]

Voltage doesn't tell you much. LOAD test the batteries after charging them.

 

[IDIoit]

gel batteries are the only battery you cannot put a hard charge on, those have to be trickle charged.

 

[ISPKI]

Well I spent today charging the batteries and bolting the controller/relay back together. Did as you said, charged at 55amps, then back down to 10 once the charger tripped. Got both batteries fullg charged.

I tried to see if the GP switch would work but im not getting any response from it, WTS light isnt coming on at all which tells me that the relay is not triggering. I have the WTS light wire connected to the output post on the relay to act as a check to make sure the GPs are heating but im not getting any reading on that post. I tried unplugging the wires from the momentary switch and touching them together to see if the switch is bad but still no power, no click from the relay.

 

[ISPKI]

Got my new relay in yesterday and installed it in a snow storm. Seems to be working correctly now. I can press my momentary switch and it triggers the relay with a strong and clear click and the WTS light comes on only when I press that switch.

Before I replaced it, the momentary switch did not seem to do anything. The WTS light came on only when I turned the key in the ignition switch, despite the fact that I disconnected the wires for the switch from the relay. I am guessing that the throttle cable had rubbed through the insulation on the wires and was allowing electricity to jump from the battery cable across to the WTS light when the starter solenoid engaged. Going to let it warm up over night and then try and fire it in the morning. Meanwhile, I am dropping the rotted rear tank and installing my new rear bumper.