Ghost lights and powerless…

[westbound nate]

Argh!
Symptoms:
Went from everything fine, parked for 10 minutes, and then NO power whatsoever!
Didn't leave the lights on, battery is fairly new, reads at 13.2 v.
New alternator about a year ago.
got a few moments of full power, but only for half a second at a time.
Now, having sat for a few days, i get ghost lights. dim interior lights, and clicking, whirring in the dash, but not enough power to get the glow plugs going.
those 4 fusible links look fine, no burned wires that i could see or smell.

A few months ago I had some issues starting, opened up the "hood" to see what the heck was going on, saw some sparks fly down there, and then started fine. no problems until now.
Installed trailer harness since then.

Possible problems…
starter? but then why no power anywhere?
Main 100 a fuse? is it safe to just pull it out and look at it?
Alternator? $#!@^$&* again? but it seemed to sudden of a power loss.

It seems to me that it's something between the battery, and um everything else.

any ideas?
I'm at a loss.
I'm headed up to CCautos in Late February for a bunch of other stuff, i just need to get things running until then.
Easy/common problem/fix?
or take it to a local shop?
or just somehow get it to coombs because they are wizards?

Thanks in advance, you all are awesome.
Nathan

[Big-Bird]

Batteries can provide good voltage readings but fail on amperage output if a plate or 2 have done the internal contact tango.

You need to pull the battery or batteries and go get a proper test done on them. Partsource does this for free as does canadian tire.

Even if you have 2 batteries: if one is bad the electrical system can do weird things. Electrical troubleshooting relies on the process of elimination.

[westbound nate]

okay, i'll take the battery somewhere today and have a checked out. hopefully it's that easy of a fix. Thanks.

[westbound nate]

Had battery checked, it's fine.
Got battery back into the van, jumped it using the car... And sparks flew! Down in the engine compartment. Then it started.
Perhaps a loose wire, something making contact where it shouldn't near the starter?

[Big-Bird]

As I said process of elimination: Good news that the battery is okay

Now check your starter and alternator connections for corrosion or loose fasteners

Disconnect the ground wire on the battery firstas you could get a nasty burn or short out an expensive electrical component if a wrench were to ground out somewhere.