ALT. Light...

With the Ford Maverick is the ALT. light suppose to stay on for like 10 seconds while the car is running and then go off, because with my car it seems to me like the alternator builds up charge and then goes off is this correct?

 

mine has never turned off since i've had it....i know the alt works though.

 

My charging system is working properly when I check it, but I was just curious to see if this was a common occurrence or a minor problem.

 

My 77 does the same thing,, starts and runs fine all the time.
Dan

 

Mine stays on from the time I turn on the power till I get a few miles down the road, but it hasn't had any problems.

 

None of my Mavericks do that. The ALT light goes off the second the car fires off. The only time my ALT light has ever been on while the car is running in our daily driver Maverick is when a wire came loose from the alternator.

The ALT light would sort of flicker on my '69.5 when sitting at redlights and stuff, but that was because I had the car idleing at like 450 RPM I think.

 

Mine shuts off immediately when the car is started...

 

you are all lucky. I have NO idiot lights that work at all
I did see the "brake" light come on once after I converted to disc. I also have no dash lights but my column shift light works. I may have some elect issues. LOL

 

Mine did that for a time. I've been through a couple of alt's.

Two things spring to mind, the alt isn't 100%, that was my problem. One of the diodes (capacitors, whatever) blew, but it still charged, just took it a bit longer to get going, eventually shorted and drained the battery, or voltage regulator.

I finally quit rebuilding alternators from old parts and bought one, got a new regulator, I think I'm still running my old regulator tho. Light cuts off almost as soon as the car hits, at least it did last time it had a dash...

 

The Alternator light is supposed to come on momentarily but as soon as the alternator begins to charge it should go out. Try revving the engine once and see if it goes out when the engine is revved a bit. It could be a wiring problem - corrosion or other resistance or it could be a regulator problem. (too much gap or a dirty armature in the regular contacts or just a weak coil) Replacing the regulator will fix any problem there as for the possible wiring problems start at the alternator connections - make sure they are clean and tight. move up to each connection (including the crimp that holds the connectors on). When you find the problem fix it.