so i had an alternator go bad and i was taking the power wire off and forgot to disconnect the battery so the ratchet accidentally bumped the power steering bracket and shorted everything out and now i have nothing in the cab the only thing i can do is turn my lights on and off. when i turn my key forward its like the battery is unhooked. so i checked all my fuses and grounds and everything was fine. i replaced the little piece of wiring harness coming off the alternator and that still didnt fix it. please help me thanks kyle

 

Did the same thing once years ago!

Disconnect the battery now.

You probably caused the 80 amp Alt fuse to blow. It's in the engine compartment in the fuse/relay box just behind the battery. You can get the fuse at a local parts store. The fuse is bolted into the box so you'll need to unbolt the box from the fender and remove the cover from the bottom. Once the cover is off, you can see the two bolts holding the fuse in place. I believe you'll need an 8mm wrench to get the bolts out.

Use an ohm meter to check for continuity between the new fuse and the "B" post (the one that's got the large wire to the battery attached with the nut.) of the alternator after you get it in, but before you close the box back up. An even better test, after you get the truck running, is to connect the positive probe of a voltmeter to the "B" terminal and the negative probe to the positive (+) post of the battery. The meter should read 0.0, indicating that no voltage is lost between the alternator and the battery. This confirms that the wiring and connections are good. A reading above .2v indicates excessive resistance in the wiring.

Good luck with everything,
Bugs

 

thanks so much ill get on it

 

thank you so much it worked and the truck is running again.