some kinda short? 87 22r
 

Driving home at night, I pulled over, stepped on the brake. There was a flash. The brake light and battery light came on. I opened the hood, jiggled wires, battery; noticed the right front headlight was out. There was some kinda surge, the clock reset itself, and the radio went off and on. Check the belts, everything moving. REstarted car, engine lights out. Drove a couple of mile up the road, the brake light and battery light come on again. Repeat checks, this time the lights stay on. Belts still moving. Was in deep dark woods, had to keep driving. Every so often, the windshield wiper would come on. When I pressed on the brakes, the battery light would go off, but the brake light stayed on. I am mystified. Any ideas? Thanks in advance...put in two alternators in the last two years, btw...

Just where was the flash under the hood or under the dash?? Was the flash the reason you pulled over? Did it happen after you were stopped??

At this time for some reason your battery is not being charged . Hence the reason the battery and brake lights are on. It could be the alternator it might be a loose or bad connection/ rubbed wires

If something arced there will be burn marks .

Some place in the wire harness or fuse panels something is energizing the wiper circuit. Do the wipers work like they should with the switch??

Besides the headlight are their any other systems that are not working ??If other things are not working it gives you a place to start.

If it is only the charging system look at the battery terminals look at the cables check the belt tension.

Maybe in the light of day you might spot something you did not notice in the dark

These things can be a pain to find.

To me there are a bunch of places I would rather not be broke down in.

:camp2: I think a dark woods would be my break down spot of choice!!

Ground Cable on battery , starter, or frame.

Thanks for the replies....

The flash was as I pulled over and stopped. The battery was out of it's place, so maybe something jiggled loose.

The battery is old, I'll change it out, and check the ground wires. It is indeed dead, I'm glad I made it home. I will check the other things when I get that swapped out.

I was coming home from a show, the truck was packed, and the husband was drunk and surly, so spending the night in the rain was SO not an option:pop:

swapped the battery, no charge getting anywhere
 

put in a brand new battery, don't see any obvious burns. I turn on the headlights, nada. Won't start. No charge going anywhere...help!

Don't see any mention about checking fuses. When your battery moved, the positive terminal could have contacted a metal part causing the "flash" you saw. If this happened you may have some fuse or fuses that blew when the short occured.

Start with the fuse box near your battery that has the "big" fuses, also check the fusible link. It is a smaller wire with a different color insulation (often white or grey) and connects to the positive terminal. It is designed to melt in case of a major short.

If things look good there, open the fuse panel under dash on kick panel on the driver side. Check 'em all.

Good luck.

Hey Rock...

Did check the fuses, everything looked good. Missed the fusible link tho....threw in the towel and towed it to town...I'll let y'all know the outcome...

Didn't mean to insult your troubleshooting skills, just didn't see mention of fuses so thought it would be good place to look.

Sounds like you have a few gremlins running amok in your electrical system. Hope the shop can find them. Maybe it will be something not too $$$$.

Hey Rock, no insult taken, I'm grateful for any input! Thanks for your response.
:bllama:

and I sure as heck hope it's not to $$$$....just don't have it right now.

and the answer is
 

Fusible Link! Duh....thanks, all for your patience and replies. I'm glad I swapped in the new battery, because the old one was the wrong size for the compartment (love salesmen, he swore it was the right battery). It's looseness contributed to the problem, I'm sure.

Excellent!

That fusible link saved your truck! Without it you would not have been in the "dark woods" because there would have been lots of light given off from your engine compartment fire.

Correct size battery helps, but keep that new battery tightly bolted to the holder.

Good that it wasn't a worse problem!