Had to replace a bad alternator in my sons 2001 Dakota 4.7L 4WD yesterday.

Installation went smooth

Tried to start and it clicked as if the battery was dead.. So I hooked it up to a charger and it showed full charge.

I then jump started it with another truck and it started, but died as soon as he unhooked the jumper cables.

I changed out several alternators in my time..... I've never had this issue before.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

Did you remove the neg battery cable before you changed it?

 

It was 2 Am when I changed it...... Told my son to do that, and have it ready when I got home... To be honest though, I never actually looked which one he had disconnected - or +

Once it did not start, that was one of the first things I did today, hoping a reset would do the trick

Not that it matters, but I changed the PCM a year ago July.

 

PCM won't affect the cranking. Check the battery cables and make sure they're on tight.

Dakota's hate low voltage and won't run well if at all.

 

Checked the connections to battery and alternator..... I'm now looking at maybe a loose connection elsewhere.

 

OK have checked the connections......... Now trying to run the wires looking for breaks or burns etc

Appreciate your suggestions

 

Get the battery load tested too. It may have failed.