electrical problems with ING/GAUG fuse and Good alternator not charging battier

this will probably be long but here it goes, I am new to this forum I do know cars and stuff but this problem has me spent. I have a 1993 S10 Tahoe Blazer, I bought it about 3 yrs ago and it sat for 2 1/2 . I got a great deal on it and it was in good shape in side and out. Last July I decided to get it taged and on the road, it had a bad battier and ran as if the the emrg. brake was on a little, just a little sluggish. Also the fuse for the ING/GAUG was blown. I put a new battier and fuse in and the problem went away. Ran great for 3-4 months, then the ING/GAUG fuse blew (it blows every time a new one is put in and the ING is turned to prestart position) and it started running sluggish again. and before long the battier was dead with in a day or so. I thought it was the Alternator and replaced it, But fuse was still blowing and it was not charging the battier, I pulled off the battier cable while it was running and it died. Thinking I got a bad ALT I had it tested and it is good, I think it may be a short but can't think of where it might be. I have never seen a short with the fuse out cause this to happen. Any help out there would be greatly appreciated. Also i do not know but I had put a new radio in pryer to this happening in july does anyone think that it might be the radio.

In this case if you fix one problem you will also fix the other. Somehow the circuit you are having problems with is connected to the alternator. I had a similar problem with my truck which is the same as yours, but my fuse wasn't blowing, just not getting a good connection. I would suggest pulling the fuse block away from the firewall. You will need to take out 2 screws under the hood on the firewall and then undo the clips under the dash. That is probably the best place to look for your short. If that comes up dry my next best suggestion is to get a wiring diagram and start tracing. I hope this helps.

Dennis

I just want to say Welcome to AF kamos

Good Luck with the problem.
Electrical is usually the hardest to find but easy work.
The secret is when you start to get stresssed out either take a brake or pack it up for the day.

I know that this sounds easier sayed than done since you want your truck on the road, but the job will still get done quicker using this method

kamos - Any luck finding your short in your S-10? I've got a '95 S-10 Blazer doing EXACTLY the same thing. Turn the key, fuse blows, battery doesn't charge. I'm clueless where to start looking.

I definitely don't advise doing this unless you are absolutely desperate, because very, very bad things can happen.... but I have heard of people putting a straight connector in the fuse plug (something that won't burn out right away) and then looking for the smoke to find the short... Again, NOT recommended...

I just bought my S15 this week, and had the same problem right away (except so far my fuse hasn't blown again). The Ign/Gauge fuse powers the field circuit for the alternator. When you look at your alternator there is the "stud" on the back of it where the heavy wires going to the battery and into the wiring harness goes, and there is also a plug on the alternator which has two wires going to it. This plug is tied into the ign/gauge fuse, and when the key is turned on a signal is sent to the alternator to tell it to start charging. If the fuse is blown no signal is sent, if you take the alternator out and test it, it will work fine, because when they test it they send the signal to it. The fuse also powered my fuel gauge, voltmeter, and I would suspect my oil pressure gauge (that one doesn't work). There isn't really anything in the field circuit that would short out and blow the fuse, so I suspect the problem could be in the instrument cluster. If , for example, your fuel gauge shorted out and blew the fuse, then it would cause the alternator to stop charging. If my problem continues I will take the instrument cluster apart, unplug the connectors to it, and try it again. If that still fails I would inspect the wires going to the instrument cluster to see if the short was there.
By the way, in these vehicles they are designed to die if you unplug the battery so that is no way to test for a bad alternator. Use a volt meter, attach the black lead to a ground, and the red lead to the stud on the back on the alternator. It should read 13 volt or more.

Good luck.

I definitely don't advise doing this unless you are absolutely desperate, because very, very bad things can happen.... but I have heard of people putting a straight connector in the fuse plug (something that won't burn out right away) and then looking for the smoke to find the short... Again, NOT recommended...


lol and then i saw your name lolx2 :iceslolan wouldnt it be possible to manually power up the alternator field by giving the wire coming from the gauges(isolated of course) 12v and see if it might be the field windings themselves?

i was looking at a wiring diagram on alldata and that ign/gaug fuse also feeds the heater circuit on the O2 sensor. pink wire with a black stripe right? is it 4x4 and which 4.3? 1993 Chevy Truck S10/T10 Blazer 4WD V6-262 4.3L VIN W CPI i checked both 2x4 and 4x4 engine options and they are all wired the same but the right info would help :)

Sorry for the slow response, I have been out of the loop for a while. I have got it to a difin. point but I do think it is in the dash cluster. I also have not been working on it do to the cold weather. How about you have you find it. Maybe if you have it would be a short cut for me. Anyway I am sorry for the slow response. wish you luck.

It is a 1993 s-10 4x4 with a 4.3 in it. Thank you for help.

I have find it it took along time but I did, I don't know if you are having the trouble still but if so this my help. It was a red with black stripe wire to the rearview mirror lamps. It shorted up in the headliner, it was bint over a piece of mental. You will need to take of the visor and anything holding up the liner. the wire runs up the driver side window post then across the to the rearview mirror at the front in front of the windshield. good luck.

HOLY C R A P ........... Similar issue on my 97 ... YOU mean My Alt won't charge and Inst Cluster is out and NO AC ... and It could be a short in my headliner !! HA GO FIGURE ... My Wife said I need a hobby ! sounds like I got one now HAHAH !! Wooooooooooooooooooo GM ..... I use to say good things about you !!

D

HOLY C R A P ........... Similar issue on my 97 ... YOU mean My Alt won't charge and Inst Cluster is out and NO AC ... and It could be a short in my headliner !! HA GO FIGURE ... My Wife said I need a hobby ! sounds like I got one now HAHAH !! Wooooooooooooooooooo GM ..... I use to say good things about you !!

D
thread is almost 2 years old. please refrain from posting in old threads :nono: .