battery not holding charge...

[Blackdotmetal]

1963 D200, 318...
Last night I noticed headlights looking really dim, didn't think much of it but this afternoon battery died after trying to start her. Jump started OK, turned off and re-started OK. Let it idle for 20 min and even drove around a bit, then, stalled. Tried to start again and NOTHING. Went through this scenario 2 or 3 times. When it's dead I get no lights, no clicking, just nothing...Going to mess with it in the a.m...
Starter is new.
Battery is new.
Wiring could be cleaned up but is OK.
I'm thinking that maybe the alternator is bad? Maybe voltage regulator? I'm a novice but wanted to get the experts opinions...
Also, would it not be a good idea to replace the alt and volt reg regardless weather they are the problem?
Thanks in advance for your help!

[Oldguy]

Sounds like ground and/or bulkhead connection issues. I know that's a giant PITA but that one thing has caused me lots of problems in the past. Good luck. Mike

[RussRoth]

I just went through that myself. Rigs all sat with batteries unhooked for the 3 months we were out of the country. The Durango needed some prodding but the diesel fired right up and ran while the PW wouldn't even crank. Replaced the starter and got it fired up but then the battery wouldn't crank it. Had the battery checked and it got an OK but I was still highly suspicious it was the problem. The next day I had to wait for my wife to come get me, take me home for the jump cables and with a jump fired right up. Drove it home and it started in the driveway one (1) time and then wouldn't crank enough to fire up again. Took the battery back and told them I wanted it tested again since I was pretty sure everything else was working OK. Was showing 14 volts on the volt meter going down the road. Turns out the tester was faulty and the battery was bad. That was less than a year and this was the second new one to go bad in two years. Not sure what's up with that. Now all is good.

[Blackdotmetal]

Thanks for the replies guys...
Yesterday I replaced the voltage regulator and Alternator. Battery was too dead to let the alternator do it's job. Took battery to local vendor who put it on a 2 hr charge and in the meantime I borrowed a smaller battery out of a ford ranger. Big mistake! It worked for a while, did some errands but after a 20 minute drive it finally died. Everything was dying slowly while trying to get home, wipers, lights, heater...died a few blocks from home, luckily...
So, going to pick up my battery (fully charged) today, I suppose the ploblem last night was that the Ranger battery couldn't produce enough amps to keep everything powered for more than a little while? Any thoughts?
Will look into the bulkhead/ground when I get it home...Where do I start when diagnosing that?

[junior]

What shape are your battry cables in? I got some thick ones made for mine,the kind big rigs use. Check all connections and clean and tighten. Clean all the connections for the fuses in your fuse box. Remove the fuses and spray the connectors with wd-40 and scrape clean with a small screw driver if they look dirty.I was in Mexico once and my truck started doing that.I took it to a shop and the guy had me do that.I asked how much I owed him.He said nothing.No charge for advice.Cool!

[Blackdotmetal]

Thats cool, I'll always accept free advice!
Thanks for the input, I made new heavy duty cables when I bought the battery over the summer. I Try to keep connections clean but I DO need to do a thorough cleaning and should actually probably just fully re-wire at some point because someone did a LOT of splicing on this thing...Oh and no fusebox, fuses are in line and sometimes really hard to find...
I'm thinking my correct, fully charged battery SHOULD get it back on the road, but I hope to just bite the bullet and re-wire soon...
Any links or tips to a good wiring guide/ instructional video? Is their a wiring kit for these trucks? It would be nice to know for sure the electrical system is legit...

[junior]

I have a 1947 dodge 1.5 ton that I completley re-wired.I did it by replacing several wires at a time each time and eliminating all the wires that went nowhere that had been cut and left there.I used the same colors as the originals ,but tried using thicker wires ,especially for tail and headlights and heavy current wires.It took a while ,but came out good.I even added a fusible link,some relay switches and a fuse box to the system. check out 60-66 gmc guy. He offers lots of good advice free.

[Blackdotmetal]

Sounds good but who's the 60-66 GMC guy?
By the way I spoke to a few people and deduced that even if the Ranger battery in question was not sufficient in size (amps?) it shouldn't have just died after driving around an hour or so. The charging system is not working, must be a short somewhere not allowing the alternator to charge the battery...I guess I need to go through the wiring with a "fine tooth comb"...

[junior]

60-66 gmc guy is another truck site for 60-66 gmc trucks. They offer a lot of good electrical advise.That happened to a truck I have,mot charging and It was the regulator that was bad.I installed a new one and probablem solved.

[junior]

when you install a regulator let it run and see what the amp meter does. If it is not charging still then it can only be the alternator-worn out brushes.Good luck!