Alternator not charging, dies when battery disconnected.

[T Stoner]

My wife recently bought got a 91 Chevy Silverado 1500 from her dad. She drove it 6 hours back to our house, no issues. Naturally, the tilt steering column was loose so I took apart the column and tightened up the tilt bolts. After assembly, she drove it dowm the street to store and back a couple times no issues. She went to get it inspected and afterward it wouldn't start. It seems the alternator isn't charging the battery now and when I take a battery cable off the battery it dies. The gauges aren't working either. I don't know if they were working after I worked on column. They did work when she drove it from her dad's. I replaced the alternator and the battery is new, same thing. Could I have caused this when I tightened the column up? I checked all the fuses in the fuse box on left side of dash, not aware of any others. Any ideas would be appreciated. Thanks

Edited September 25, 2020 by T Stoner
Added info

[ArcticFoxCJ]

It may be that the gauges issue is separate from the charging issue.

 

To diagnose an alternator not charging, you should:

• Make sure the alternator belt is on and not slipping
• Get a volt meter and check battery voltage when the truck is running.  It should read just over 14v.  If it doesn't:
• Check the voltage of the positive cable to the alternator (engine off)  and you should see 12.6v there. 

If you have voltage at the alternator but it is still low when the engine is running, then the alternator is almost certainly bad.

 

If you don't have voltage going into the alternator, then you have an open somewhere in that circuit that needs to be found and repaired.

 

As for the gauges, I can't say.  If you know all the fuses are good then it may be worth checking to be sure the electrical connectors to the gauge panel are all still on and tight.  They could have been jostled when you were working on the column.

[T Stoner]

Today I took apart the column again, not down to the tilt but to the wiring harness running through and the wiring to the turn signal lever. Everything looked good,  no pinched wires, all looked as it should. Put it back together, check wiring under the column to ther switch and all the wiring under there just to make sure ther connections were good and no short to ground. It's working perfect now, Must have been something I did the first time that taking it apart again changed. Thank you for your help and suggestions. I think my praying must have helped too, it's my wife's truck and that makes a difference than if it was mine. Lol