Posted by Bill Smutz on June 10, 1997 at 14:44:56:
In Reply to: '64WM300 Steering Wheel Removal/Electrical Problem posted by Alex Campbell on June 10, 1997 at 10:02:04:
Can't help with the steering wheel but I do know a
little about electricity. To find out if you have
a short somewhere, disconnect one of the leads to
your batter (+ or -). If you have an ammeter,
connect it between the cable and the battery
terminal. (Make sure everything is off first.) If
you get any reading at all, there is something
drawing electricity. There are things like the
channel memory on a digital radio that will always
draw a very small amount of current, say 200-300
milliamps. If you don't have any of those devices,
then you shouldn't have any current. If you do or
the current is excessive, then you have a short
somewhere. If you don't have a meter then use
a 1 amp or smaller fuse between the cable and the
terminal. If the fuse blows, you have a short.
The easiest way to find a short is to eliminate
circuits one at a time. If you rewired the truck
as you say, then you should be able to disconnect
different circuits one at a time and redo the check
until you find which circuit has the fault and then
find the component in the circuit or bare wire that
is actually causing it. If you don't have a short
then either the battery or alternator is shot. If
you can disconnect the battery while the truck is
running and it doesn't die, then your alternator
is probably good. Hope this helps.